Finance Minister Dr. Marial Dongrin addresses the launch of poverty and equity assessment report in Juba. December 10, 2024. (Photo: MoF&P).

The Ministry of Finance and Planning – in collaboration with the World Bank Group and South Sudan National Bureau of Statistics – launched the Poverty and Equality Assessment Report at a workshop in Juba on Tuesday.

UN agencies have warned of an alarming humanitarian crisis in South Sudan where more than half the country’s population will go hungry in 2025.

The latest food security assessment has also projected that 85 percent of people fleeing war-torn Sudan to South Sudan will be acutely food insecure in the 2025 lean season.

Addressing the event, Finance Minister Hon. Dr. Marial said extreme poverty level in the country is worsened by historical systemic challenges including longstanding conflicts that have disrupted social and economic structures.

He also blamed worsening climatic conditions as well as inadequate state capacity to effectively provide essential services to the population.

Minister Dongrin also directed the technical team to ‘thoroughly review the documents, evaluate the effectiveness of the suggestions, and identify the best ways to implement them to benefit the public’.

Civil servants and regular forces in South Sudan have not been paid salaries for the past one year – a situation attributed to economic downturns caused by declining oil revenue.

On his part, the Country Manager of the World Bank, Mr. Charles Undeland pledged continued support to South Sudan’s economic development.

Undeland said the World Bank is working to strengthen the capacity of statistical staff, build resilience to shocks and mitigate disasters and climatic effects and support agricultural productivity in the country to boost food security.