Leer County, Unity State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 NBS Census population: 53,022
2021 NBS PES population estimate*: 92,228
2022 UN OCHA population estimate*: 77,811

Ethnic groups: Dok Nuer (Bapuor, Juong, Tikjak)

Displacement Figures Q3 2022: 58,308 IDPs (+45,932 Q1 2020) and 20,166 returnees (+8,250 Q1 2020)

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

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Leer County is located in Unity State. It borders Mayendit County to the west and north and Panyijiar County to the south. The county also borders Jonglei State (Ayod County) in the east. The county forms part of the Nile-Sobat livelihood zone which is characterized by black cotton soil and plentiful water resources. The Kiir (the local name for the River Nile) and Wuot rivers cross through the county, along with the Gaar, Guiy and Wathlual rivers. The soil becomes water-logged during the rainy season and the county’s eastern edge, bordered by the Supiri River, is particularly prone to flooding.

In a 2013 IOM survey, residents responded that their main livelihood activities were farming (35%), livestock (34%) and fishing (29%). More recent FAO/WFP data indicates that 35% of households in Leer County are still engaged in farming, with a gross cereal yield of 0.6 tonnes per hectare in 2021 and 2022 (FAO/WFP 2022; FAO/WFP 2023). Ox-ploughs are not extensively used in Leer County due to the value placed on cattle, which means that crop yields do not reach their full potential.

Additionally, hunting, foraging for wild plants and producing milk are also secondary livelihoods in the county. Residents in this region rely chiefly on cattle keeping and sorghum production for their livelihoods. Households also raise cattle and sheep and cultivate other crops such as maize, okra, pumpkin and cowpeas and sorghum as the staple cereal. Farming takes place on a subsistence level and less well-off households purchase nearly half of their staple cereals from the market. The sale of charcoal, firewood, grass and casual labour are also common means of income-generation.

A combination of flooding during the rainy season and violent conflict have limited water and land trade routes and prevented residents from accessing markets, which has driven inflation and deepened poverty. The frequent closures of the border with Sudan have also limited the flow of goods, while violent conflict has prevented some farmers from planting their crops, and residents fear accessing local markets when they must travel on roads that are unsafe.

Leer County has historically suffered from high levels of food insecurity and in February 2017 famine was declared in Leer and Mayendit counties in the south of Unity State. This was the first time since 2011 that famine had been declared anywhere in the world. Relative stability in the county since 2019, as well as humanitarian interventions in the area, have alleviated the pressure of food insecurity for the local population to a certain extent, though renewed conflict in 2022 has once more imperilled livelihoods and food security in the county. In November 2022, the IPC projected the county as being at emergency (IPC level 4) levels of food insecurity, with conditions projected to persist at the same level until at least July 2023. As of November 2022, at least 25% of households in Leer meet over 50% of their calorific assistance through humanitarian assistance, although the percentage of calorific assistance met through assistance is projected to decline to between 25% and 50% from December 2022 to July 2023.

In 2021 Leer County was identified as a flood-affected county by the Emergency Response Coordination Centre and by OCHA as a county with over 25,000 flood-affected people.

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES

The county HQ is Leer town located in Juong Payam. Road infrastructure is poor, with roads often impassable during the rainy season and physical access only possible via Adok Port in the east of the county.

Leer is home to forty-one (41) primary schools as well as Leer Emma Secondary School located in Juong Payam. There are currently no Early Childhood Development centres in Leer.

Leer County was reported to have sixteen (16) health facilities including fifteen (15) functional health facilities, among them nine (9) PHCUs and six (6) PHCCs in 2022. This means that there were an estimated 1.55 PHCUs per 15,000 people and 3.86 PHCCs per 50,000 people according to the WHO. The only hospital was destroyed during the civil war.

According to OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2023, about 70,028 people in Leer County have humanitarian needs (up markedly from 53,000 in 2021, due to the effects of renewed conflict and displacement in the county in February and April 2022). This represents nearly 90% of the estimated population of Leer County reported in the HNO, which has placed additional pressure on the already weak infrastructure and services.

Humanitarian conditions (and particularly food insecurity) in Leer County have been worsened by rounds of conflict, with the heightened needs reported in 2022 being only the latest in a series of conflict-induced humanitarian shocks.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Decades of civil war have regularly brought conflict to Leer County, with national-level fractures compounding more local divisions among Unity’s Nuer clans (Johnson 2009). During the second Sudanese civil war (1983-2005), Leer was captured by the SPLA in 1986. Following the 1991 SPLM/A split, Leer became a stronghold of the SPLM/A faction commanded by Riek Machar (who is from Leer). However, Leer became enmeshed in the complex series of political and military realignments that affected Unity during the 1990s and early 2000s, with Machar temporarily aligning his forces to the South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF) coalition, and Leer becoming an increasingly militarised garrison town. In 1998, the town was attacked three times by a rival SSDF faction commanded by Paulino Matip, with widespread looting and property destruction occurring, in addition to abductions of women and girls (Rone 2003, pp.146-153). This resulted in reciprocal attacks against Matip’s forces, with violence engulfing Leer once again in 1999. Fighting would continue sporadically in the early 2000s between government and opposition forces.

Prior to the outbreak of the national conflict (2013-2018), violence in Leer mostly took the form of localised conflict and cattle raiding among youth from Leer, Mayendit and Panyijiar Counties and further afield (UNDP 2012), including Mayom (Felix da Costa et al. 2022). As in many other Nuer-populated areas, local spiritual leaders have popular support from communities and played an important role in localized peace-making and advising the aggrieved and authorities on dispute resolution and traditional reconciliation. During the national conflict (discussed further below), the Small Arms Survey reported SPLA-IO allegations that traditional leaders had been targeted by government forces (Craze et al. 2016, p.58). Meanwhile, the Dok Nuer prophet Gatluak Gatkuoth played a particularly prominent role in curbing subnational conflict, although the authority of both customary chiefs and spiritual leaders over youth has been eroded as a result of the civil war (McCrone et al. 2021). Prophet Gatluak’s influence has subsequently declined, though another Prophet, Tilling Nyinyaar, has become an influential figure in limiting violence in southern Unity, particularly in Leer County.

As both an opposition stronghold and the home area of SPLA-IO leader Riek Machar, Leer was one of the most conflict-affected counties in South Sudan during the national conflict, with intense fighting between government and the SPLA-IO leading to significant displacement and loss of life, notably during the southern Unity offensives of 2014 and 2015. While opposition forces were driven out of Leer town by the SPLA in late January 2014, control of Leer County continued to shift between government and opposition forces during 2015. Leer continued to experience fighting following the signing of the ARCSS in August 2015, ,during which opposition forces often withdrew into the bush rather than directly engage the government, and rapidly re-took positions after government forces left. Skirmishes continued over the following years, with government forces and their allied militias launched a coordinated offensive on Leer and Mayendit counties in 2018 that continued until the middle of the year.

Both the military and opposition have been accused of committing serious human rights violations in Leer, with most of Leer town being destroyed. For example, according to the UN, between April and September 2015, an estimated 1,000 civilians were killed, 1,300 women and girls were raped, and 1,600 women and children were abducted in Leer, Mayendit and Koch counties alone (Protection Cluster 2015). The conflict played a critical role in producing conditions that resulted in famine being declared in Leer by the UN in 2017 (ICG 2017). Amnesty International (2018) reported serious human rights violations occurring during the 2018 government offensive, observing that attacks on villages and food sources were probably intended to render such villages uninhabitable.

Like other parts of Unity State, a lack of cohesion amongst Unity’s Nuer clans has been accelerated by the use of armed youth as proxies and the mobilisation and militarisation of community self-defence forces (referred to as ‘gojam’) in the context of national conflict. Although much of the (predominantly Dok Nuer) population supported the SPLA-IO in Leer County, parts of the Dok Nuer community aligned with the government during the early stages of the conflict (Craze et al. 2016, pp.60-61). During the 2015 offensive, the SPLA were supported by youth militias from Nuer communities from Mayom, Mayendit, Rubkona and Koch counties, during which significant numbers of cattle were stolen (Craze et al. 2016, p.86). Raiding by youth militias in Unity during the national conflict became increasingly associated with sexual violence and the killing of women and children, whilst the theft of cattle has been interpreted as being conducted not only with the intention of benefiting the raiding community, but also to deprive the raided community of the means of social reproduction whilst punishing perceived political opponents (Felix da Costa et al. 2022, pp. 232-233).

These intra-Nuer dynamics have intersected with broader political dynamics in Unity State and in Juba that followed the signing of the 2018 R-ARCSS, with Leer becoming a focal point for overlapping tensions. Appointments made to Leer County as part of the R-TOGNU caused concern among the local population and international partners, due to the alleged role of some appointees in leading pro-government forces in the area during the civil war and the perceived legacies of human rights violations and discontent that have been left behind (Small Arms Survey 2021). In late 2021, fighting between youth from Leer and Mayendit counties was reported, killing at least 23 people and resulted in displacement and destruction of property (UNSC 2022, p.4). Insecurity and around in Leer County increased markedly between February and April 2022, with fighting involving SSPDF (backed by militia from Mayendit and Koch counties) and SPLA-IO forces. This followed in the wake of political tensions in the area, alongside a recent defection from an SPLA-IO commander to the government, which was initially misrepresented as being a defection to the SPLA-IO Kitgweng faction (Small Arms Survey 2023). A joint UNMISS and OHCHR report (2022) established that around 173 civilians were killed during attacks or fighting in around 28 settlements, with 131 instances of sexual violence were document. At least 44,000 people were displaced during the violence, whilst the destruction and theft of property was also reported. Fighting was also reported in Leer in November 2023, following the defection of an SPLA-IO commander to the government (Radio Tamazuj 2023).

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams:  Adok, Bou, Guat, Juong Kang, Padeah, Pilieny, Yang, Thonyor

UN OCHA 2020 map of Leer County: https://reliefweb.int/map/south-sudan/south-sudan-leer-county-reference-map-march-2020

 Roads:

• Leer has a single primary road running diagonally from Mayendit County in the north-west of Leer County to Adok port in the south-east. The road connects Leer town to the main Unity State trunk road at its west (connecting Lakes and Central Equatoria to Unity State) and Adok port on the Nile to its east. The road was considered “passable with difficulties” during both the rainy season of 2022 and dry season of 2023. Note that the main trunk was designated as being impassable in the same time period. A secondary road runs west from northern Leer County into Mayendit County. Local sources report the road is only accessible during the dry season.
• The river route along the Nile from Bor to northern Unity State passes through the eastern side of Leer County, with the county being served by a port at Adok.

 UNHAS-Recognized Heli-Landing-Sites and Airstrips: Leer

Additional MAF-Recognised Airstrips: Padeah, Din Din

REFERENCES

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.

Felix da Costa, D., Pendle, N. and Tubiana, J. (2022). ‘The growing politicisation and militarisation of cattle-raiding among the Western Nuer and Murle during South Sudan’s civil wars’ in Bach, J-N. (ed.) The Routledge Handbook on the Horn of Africa, pp.224-238. Abingdon: Oxfordshire.

FEWSNET. (2018). ‘Livelihoods Zone Map and Descriptions for the Republic of South Sudan (Updated)’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Johnson, D. (2009). ‘The Nuer Civil Wars’ in Schlee, G. and Watson, E. (eds) Changing Identifications and Alliances in North-East Africa: Sudan, Uganda and the Ethiopia-Sudan Borderlands (Volume 3), 31-48. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Juba Echo. (2022). ‘Deaths, displacements sum up increasing violence in Unity State’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

OCHA. (2021). ‘Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2021’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Protection Cluster. (2015). ‘Protection Cluster Situation Update: Southern and Central Unity (April-September 2015)’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2023). Brigadier general killed in Leer fighting. Retrieved 2 January 2024.

Small Arms Survey. (2021). Unity State: New appointments and developments. HSBA MAAPSS Update No.5. Received 31 December 2023.

Small Arms Survey. (2023). The Body Count: Controlling Populations in Unity State. Retrieved 11 December 2023.

UNDP. (2012). ‘Community Consultation Report: Unity State, South Sudan. May 2012’. No longer available online on 7 August 2023.

UNMISS/UN OHCHR. (2022). ‘Attacks against civilians in southern Unity State, South Sudan February – May 2022’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

UNSC. (2022). Situation in South Sudan: Report of the Secretary-General, S/2022/156. Retrieved 2 January 2024.

REPORTS on LEER

Amnesty International. (2018). ‘“Anything that was breathing was killed”: War Crimes in Leer and Mayendit, South Sudan’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Barasa, M. & Waswa, F. (2015). ‘Effects of Returnees Re-Integration on the Livelihoods of Host Communities in Leer County, South Sudan’. International Journal of African and Asian Studies 14. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Coalition for Humanity South Sudan. (2018). ‘Conflict Dynamics in Leer County, South Sudan: Issues, Barrier and Opportunities Towards Conflict Transformation’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Craze, J., Tubiana, J., & Gramizzi, C. (2016). ‘A state of disunity: Conflict dynamics in unity state, South Sudan, 2013-15’. Small Arms Survey. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Human Rights Watch. (2015). ‘“They Burned it All”: Destruction of Villages, Killings, and Sexual Violence in Unity State South Sudan’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

International Crisis Group. (2017). ‘Instruments of Pain (II): Conflict and Famine in South Sudan’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

IOM. (2013). ‘Village Assessment Survey: County Atlas’. No longer available online on 7 August 2023.

McCrone, F. et al. (2021). ‘The War (s) in South Sudan: Local dimensions of conflict, governance and the political marketplace’, LSE. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Mercy Corps. (2015). ‘Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis: Livestock Off-take and Sorghum Market Systems in Leer County, Unity, South Sudan’. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Pendle, N. (2020). ‘Politics, prophets and armed mobilizations: competition and continuity over registers of authority in South Sudan’s conflicts’, Journal of Eastern African Studies 14 (1), 43–62. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

Pragst, F. et al. (2017). ‘High concentrations of lead and barium in hair of the rural population caused by water pollution in the Thar Jath oilfields in South Sudan’. Forensic science international, 274, 99-106. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

UNDP (2012). ‘Community Consultation Report: Unity State, South Sudan’. No longer available online on 7 August 2023.

UNMISS/UN OHCHR. (2019). ‘Conflict-related sexual violence in northern Unity: September – December 2018’. Retrieved 16 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.