Aweil Center, Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 NBS Census population: 41,827
2021 NBS PES population estimate*: 124,989
2022 UN OCHA population estimate*: 76,117

Ethnic groups: Rek Dinka (Malual); Luo/‘Jur Chol’

Displacement Figures Q3 2022: 12,514 IDPs (-2,291 Q1 2020) and 6,709 returnees (-4,989 Q1 2020)

IPC Food Security: November 2022 – Emergency (Phase 4); IPC Projections: December 2022 to March 2023 – Crisis (Phase 3); April to July 2023 – Emergency (Phase 4)

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Aweil Centre County is located in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State. It borders Aweil West County to the north and Aweil South County to the east. It also borders Western Bahr el-Ghazal State (Raja, Wau and Jur River Counties) to the west and south.

The northern part of the county falls under the western flood plains sorghum and cattle livelihoods zone, whereas the southern parts of the county fall under the western plains groundnuts, sesame and sorghum livelihoods zone (FEWSNET 2018). The area around Aroyo town falls under the western iron stone plateau (USAID 2007). Aweil Centre features a relatively low population density compared to other counties such as Aweil East (WFP 2018). According to a 2013 IOM assessment, 34% of residents engage in farming, 30% livestock rearing and 23% fishing for their livelihoods. A more recent study by FAO and WFP (2018) estimates that up to 60% of households engage in farming, which remained the case in 2021. Gross cereal yields in the county were put at 0.9 tonnes per hectare in 2021 (FAO/WFP 2022), decreasing to 0.8 tonnes per hectare in 2022 (FAO/WFP 2023).

While Luo are engaging predominately in farming, Dinka are mostly agro-pastoralists. The main crops are sorghum, groundnut, sesame, maize, cow peas and vegetables (okra, potatoes, tomatoes etc.). The Aweil Rice Scheme, initiated during the colonial period, was negatively affected by the second Sudanese civil war and attempts to re-build it after 2005 have had limited success. Some households also reportedly grow tobacco, as well as produce honey and shea butter, with the latter two sometimes supported with funding from humanitarian groups.

Aweil Centre is also rich in natural forestry resources including timber and bamboo, but little research has been conducted as to how best to harness them. Many residents reportedly lack necessary equipment, such as saws, to benefit from these potential revenue sources. On the other hand, exploitation of timber resources also presents environmental concerns. Hunting and sale of bush meat is reportedly common in Aweil Centre, although wildlife conservation authorities have attempted to crack down on this practice by bringing perpetrators to court.

The economy of Aweil Centre – and Northern Bahr el-Ghazal more broadly – has undergone a major transformation towards markets and commercialisation of labour over the past decades (Kindersley and Majok 2019). This structural economic transformation – alongside flooding, pests and intermittent border closures – partly explains why food insecurity has continued to be a challenge for Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State despite its relative stability. Aweil Centre County was classified as being at Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity in November 2022, and is projected to improve to Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels between December 2022 and March 2022, before reverting to Emergency levels until at least July 2023.

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES

Aroyo Payam serves as the county’s headquarters. The town of Aweil is the capital of Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State and falls on the border of Aweil Centre, Aweil West and Aweil East Counties. Disagreement had previously arisen over the precise county boundaries in part due to competition over the right of county governments to tax and govern populations within the disputed area. This resulted in a decision to administer Aweil Town as a separate administrative area governed by a municipal council instead of county governments. Despite this, several maps – including the UN OCHA map on which these county profiles are based – erroneously place Aweil Town in Aweil West County. With the exception of Aweil town, Aweil Centre has limited mobile phone coverage.

Similar to much of Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State, Aweil Centre County’s infrastructure and services are not sufficient for the local population. In the post-CPA era, accessibility to the county has been limited due to the poor conditions of roads, particularly during the rainy season. While Aweil Centre has not been impacted as much by the national level of conflict compared to other parts of the country, the closure of the border to Sudan – alongside the (limited) presence of government and opposition groups in the area –  impeded trade routes in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State during the recent civil war. This reduced the availability of goods in the market, increased prices of staples to unaffordable levels, and exacerbated food insecurity

Aweil Centre is home to eighty-four (84) primary schools and eleven (11) secondary schools including the all-girls Salva Kiir Girls Secondary.  There are currently no Early Childhood Development centres located in Aweil Centre County.

Aweil Centre County was reported to have twenty-two (22) health facilities including nineteen (19) functional health facilities, among them fifteen (15) PHCUs, three (3) PHCCs and one (1) hospital in 2022. This means that there were an estimated 2.76 PHCUs per 15,000 people and 1.97 PHCCs per 50,000 people according to the WHO. The Aweil Civil Hospital was designated as moderately functional. In 2020, OCHA identified the need for healthcare services to be at “catastrophic” levels in Aweil Centre, which was among the nine counties with most severe health-related needs.

According to OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2023, over 56,000 people in the county have humanitarian needs (up from 51,900 in 2021). This is equivalent to approximately 73% of the estimated population for Aweil Centre County reported in the HNO. Limited infrastructure has made the local population vulnerable; 54% of assessed settlements were able to safely access drinking water, according to a REACH assessment from December 2018. Additionally, 54% were able to access a borehole, whereas 17% relied on rivers or streams. Only 18% of the assessed settlements had access to a latrine and 93% reported defecating in the bush. While the county has not been historically prone to flooding, in 2019 and again in 2021, unusually heavy rainfalls that impacted many parts of South Sudan also led to internal displacement within Aweil Centre County.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Northern Bahr el Ghazal State has not been significantly directly affected by the most recent civil war, however there have been some defections and limited skirmishes between government and opposition forces – particularly as opposition forces seek to cross the state in order to enter Sudan. Additionally, many men were recruited to serve in the SPLA. For example, in July 2014 around 200 opposition fighters moved through the county on their way to Darfur after deserting their posts in Western Bahr el Ghazal. They are believed to have looted civilian homes and facilities, including a medical clinic in Awada Payam, for household items and food. An estimated 258 households from Leiyia, Nyikula, Warbum and Karkou villages were displaced to Aroyo Payam as a result. One local official told media that government troops killed 29 of the opposition fighters in a clash the week following the raid. In July 2015, there were media reports that an armed group affiliated with the SPLM/A-IO attacked the county headquarters at Aroyo village, looted shops and fired at the county commissioner’s house (Small Arms Survey, 2014). There have been no subsequent reports of large-scale violence between military factions.

Inter-communal violence has also been evident historically in the county, primarily with Rezeigat pastoralists from Sudan who migrate southwards during the dry season. With the assistance of humanitarian actors, a peace conference was held between the two communities in 2018 to mitigate tensions (UNDP, 2018).

Since then, clashes in other parts of the country in 2016 and 2018, specifically Western Bahr el-Ghazal and Raja counties, led to IDPs fleeing as far as Aweil Centre County.

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams listed in Government and UN documents: Aroyo (County Headquarters), Abul, Achanna, Bhar Mayen, Chel South, Nyalath.
Additional payams listed by local actors: Awada

UN OCHA 2020 map of Aweil Centre County: https://reliefweb.int/map/south-sudan/south-sudan-aweil-centre-county-reference-map-march-2020

Roads:

• A primary road from runs south of Aweil town to Wau (in Western Bahr-el Ghazal State) via Aweil Centre. The road was deemed passable during both the rainy season of 2022 and dry season of 2023.
• Tertiary roads run south and west out of Aroyo town. Seasonal conditions of these roads are unknown.
• Secondary roads run north and east out of Aroyo town. Seasonal conditions of these roads are unknown.

UNHAS-recognised Heli and Fixed-Wing Airplane Airstrips: Aweil

REFERENCES

Eye Radio. (2022). Death toll rises to 24 in Misseriya attack in Aweil. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

FAO/WFP. (2023). Special Report: FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to South Sudan. Retrieved 31 July 2023. See equivalent versions of the CFSAM report online for data from previous years.

FEWSNET. (2018). Livelihoods Zone Map and Descriptions for the Republic of South Sudan (Updated). Retrieved 10 July 2023.

IOM. (2013). Village Assessment Survey: County Atlas. Retrieved 3 August 2023.

Juba Monitor. (2022). Misseriya peace talks suspended in Aweil. Retrieved via Wayback Machine 18 July 2023.

Kindersley, N. and Majok, J. (2019). Monetized Livelihoods and Militarized Labour in South Sudan’s Borderlands. Rift Valley Institute. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

OCHA. (2021). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2021a). Post-migration conference concludes in Aweil East. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2021b). South Sudan, Sudan border reopening stalled. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Small Arms Survey. (2014). The Conflict in Northern and Western Bahr el-Ghazal States. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

USAID. (2007). South Sudan Food Security Update With inputs from Concern, OXFAM, HARD and SC-UK – August 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

REPORTS on AWEIL CENTER

Boswell, A. (2019). Insecure Power and Violence: The Rise and Fall of Paul Malong and the Mathiang Anyoor. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

IOM. (2013). Village Assessment Survey: County Atlas. Retrieved 3 August 2023.

IOM. (2009). State Report Northern Bahr el Ghazal. Village Assessments and Returnee Monitoring: Analytical Report, Maps and Statistical Tables. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Kindersley, N. and Majok, J.D. (2020). COVID-19 in South Sudan’s Borderlands A view from Northern Bahr el-Ghazal. Rift Valley Institute. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Kindersley, N. and Majok, J.D. (2020). Breaking Out of the Borderlands: Understanding migrant pathways from Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, South Sudan. Rift Valley Institute. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Kindersley, N. (2018). Politics, power and chiefship in famine and war A study of the former Northern Bahr el-Ghazal state, South Sudan. Rift Valley Institute. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Majok, J. D. (2021). War, Migration and Work – Agricultural labour and cross-border migration from Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, South Sudan. Rift Valley Institute. Rift Valley Institute. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

* Note: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Population Estimation Survey (PES) was published in April 2023 based on data collected in May-June 2021. This uses a different method to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Population Working Group (PWG) figures produced based on a combination of 2008 census data and population movement data up to 2022. The large discrepancies are primarily attributable to these different methods rather than changes in the actual population numbers over time and have been disputed by some civil society and analysts. Although the later PWG figures were produced more recently for the HNO 2023, at the request of the Government of South Sudan the data and method used by the PES is being used as the basis for the Common Operational Dataset (COD) for the UN system for the HNO 2024 and likely beyond. For further detail on this and other sources used in the county profiles, see the accompanying Methodological Note.