South Sudan at 15: A humanitarian journey through conflict, resilience and hope

Access to life-saving health care remains one of the country's greatest humanitarian challenges.

During the first six months of 2026, the ICRC evacuated 266 wounded patients from conflict-affected areas across South Sudan, an increase of more than 50 per cent compared with the same period in 2025. Since 2014, more than 5,000 patients have been evacuated to receive emergency surgical care.

Many patients come from remote areas where roads are impassable, communications are unreliable, and health facilities are either inaccessible or unable to provide specialised trauma care. Most are transported by air to Juba Military Hospital, one of the country's main referral centres for war surgery.

The increased number of casualties has placed enormous pressure on surgical services. During the first half of 2026, surgeries at Juba Military Hospital increased by nearly 30 per cent compared with the same period last year, leaving the ICRC-supported surgical department operating at more than 100 per cent capacity.

One of those patients is Ngor Gatluak, who was evacuated from Agany in Jonglei State, approximately 420 kilometres from Juba.

"I was shot in my arm during one of the battles. There is no hospital in our area, so I was taken from Agany for treatment. I was later referred to this hospital. I am feeling much better now, and I hope to return home soon."

For Rose Ochieng, the ICRC's Health Coordinator in South Sudan, the growing humanitarian needs are becoming increasingly difficult to meet.

Conflict is not getting any better and the humanitarian needs are also on the rise. This is further complicated with the fact that the funding has gone down. So, service provision at all levels of health care is reduced, and this causes a lot of strain in the hospital levels."