Pibor County, Jonglei State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 Census population: 148,475

2020 Population projection*: 204,879

Ethnic groups and languages: Murle, Kapchipo and Jie

Displacement Figures: 30,166 IDPs and 11,153 returnees (Q1 2020)

January 2020 IPC Projections: January 2020 – Emergency (Phase 4); February to April 2020 – Emergency (Phase 4); May to July – Emergency (Phase 4)

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Pibor County is one of two counties that form the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA). It borders Jonglei State to the north and west, Eastern Equatoria State to the south and Ethiopia to the east. The lowlands of the Lotilla plain characterise the north-western part of the county, while the highlands and hills of the Boma plateau comprise the south-eastern part of the county.

This variation Pibor encompasses two livelihood zones: the southeastern semi-arid and the pastoral zone, as well as the maize, sorghum, fishing and natural resources zone (FEWSNET, 2018). According to a 2018 report from FAO and WFP, 40% of households engage in agriculture. Pastoralism and agriculture are the main sources of livelihoods for communities in Pibor County. In the lowlands of Lotilla plain to the northwest, communities primarily engage in pastoralism. In addition to cattle, they rear goats, sheep and chicken. Livelihoods are supplemented by agriculture, including growing sorghum, maize and pumpkin. On the Boma plateau to the southeast, communities are primarily agricultural, growing sorghum, maize, sweet potatoes, okra and groundnuts. In addition, communities throughout Pibor fish during the rainy season and collect wild fruits during the lean months. Climatic conditions regularly affect both livelihood activities in Pibor County, given frequent floods and droughts. Foods and other goods can be bought in local markets, but overall trading activities are limited in the county, due to challenging road access and scarce resources. During the rainy season, few goods reach the county due to poor road networks. The county boasts a number of gold and other mines around Boma and potential oil reserves. Reaping the economic potential of mineral, livestock, and wildlife resources in Pibor, however, continues to face significant political, military, economic, legal and logistical obstacles.

During the dry season (January to April), Murle cattle herders move to riparian areas and water points along the county’s northeastern border with Pochalla, to Dinka Bor areas close to Bor South County to the west, and to Lou Nuer areas in Akobo County to the north. However, climate pressures have seen the shrinking of rivers in recent decades, forcing Murle herders further eastward and northwards.

IPC projections for Pibor increased from Crisis levels (IPC Phase 3) of food insecurity in 2016 to Emergency levels (IPC Phase 4) of food insecurity in 2020. Widespread flooding in late 2019 had a significant impact on livelihoods and the well-being of Pibor residents. According to a REACH assessment in December 2019, 38% of children under the age of 5 had been sick in the last two weeks. Cattle migration patterns that usually align with the dry and rainy seasons altered as cattle-keepers sought dry land to protect their herds. Additionally, while typically partial households migrate to cattle camps (women and children staying in the settlement as men accompany the herds), the floods have caused entire households to move to ensure that women and girls maintain access to food products from the cattle such as milk. The flooding of Pibor’s main market also destroyed crops in the area and increased the price of food. Opportunities to engage in income-generating activities, such as making and selling charcoal, are less viable now due to the devastation of the floods and destruction of natural resources needed.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES

Pibor Payam hosts the area’s headquarters in Pibor Town. Extensive flooding in 2019 had a significant impact on local infrastructure, including Pibor Town. The runway that served the area deteriorated as water levels increased, meaning that only helicopters were able to land, particularly for the purpose of humanitarian assessments and delivery of aid. In 2020, UNMISS peacekeepers rehabilitated the airstrip to functionality. Additionally, flooding prevented trade and transportation road routes from fully functioning. This impacted those who were displaced, even as availability of habitable dry land was dwindling. Numerous boreholes were contaminated, and the death of animals has increased the risk of water-borne diseases. A REACH assessment in December 2019 estimated that 76% of water points were contaminated. The floods also made the MSF compound in Pibor unusable, which had a negative impact on healthcare given that MSF is considered to be the main healthcare provider in the area. It is estimated of the 20 healthcare facilities available, 14 were damaged by the floods.

The flooding of the market area meant that trade supplies are difficult to find with prices inflating to unaffordable levels. Flood-damaged roads have severely constrained the transport of goods from Bor and Juba to Pibor. Additionally, access to cattle-markets has been significantly impeded.

According to OCHA’s (2019) Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2020, there are currently 173,000 people in need in Pibor County, who have significant protection, child protection and GBV needs. This figure represents 146% of the estimated population of the county reported in the HNO. The fact this is over 100% may reflect the reality that population projections for Pibor were too low and/or that many of those in need in Pibor are IDPs/refugees displaced from neighbouring areas or returnees that were not present in the county at the time of the last census on which projections are based. Furthermore, returnees from other areas in 2019 place additional pressure on local infrastructure and resources. The report also estimates that 39,000 people had returned to the area from Ethiopia alone.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Armed conflict in Pibor County has followed a distinct trajectory from that in much of the country, and even from the rest of Jonglei State. Murle leader David Yau Yau established an armed opposition group in 2010 to contest the leadership of Jonglei, which he felt marginalized the Murle community. In 2011, a peace agreement was signed with the Government of South Sudan, and he was re-integrated into the SPLA. In 2012, he defected for a second time, creating the SSDM-Cobra Faction. The county saw significant displacement in 2012 and 2013 as a result of fighting between the SPLA and the Cobra Faction (HSBA 2013). The HSBA notes that many Murle respondents believed influential leaders from Bor have attempted to drive internal divisions by promoting different ethnic identification between Murle from Pibor and Murle – referred to as ‘Ngalam’ – from Boma (Todisco 2015). While there are some grounds for a distinction based on differing livelihood groups and the fluidity of identity groups is a historical reality, the perceived instrumentalisation of identity by outside groups has stoked tensions within Murle communities.

When civil war broke out in December 2013, the government sought to avoid fighting on two fronts in Jonglei given parallel fighting against the SPLA-IO around Bor, and therefore accelerated ceasefire negotiations with the SSDM-Cobra Faction. In 2014, a second peace agreement was signed, this time creating the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA), of which Yau Yau was assigned to be the Administrator. This largely prevented Pibor County from becoming part of the battleground when the rest of the county returned to civil war (Todisco 2015). Despite this, OCHA reported that Gamuruk, Pibor Town, and Likuangole were all displacement ‘hotspots’ in early 2014. Pibor Town was again reported to be a displacement ‘hotspot’ following fighting in nearby areas in early 2016.

In 2015, with the creation of 32 states in South Sudan through a presidential decree, Pibor and Pochalla Counties were brought together to form Boma State. Baba Medan was initially appointed Governor of the state and Yau Yau was later appointed in this position in 2018. The territory was mainly inhabited by Anyuak, Jie, Kachepo, and Murle people. When the country returned to the 10 states formation in early 2020, Pibor was designated as one of three administrative areas.

Despite the absence of fighting between armed groups during the civil war, tensions between communities have long been a facet of life in Pibor and neighbouring counties. These clashes have historically been framed around cattle raids, the abduction of children, and revenge killing. However, in recent years, however, such activities have become entangled in broader armed inter-communal and anti-government conflicts and in new networks of criminality and are exacerbated by the proliferation of small arms throughout the country and the breakdown of traditional conflict mediation structures. While previous outbreaks of violent conflict between communities have tended to selective targeting of livelihoods and combatants, more recent episodes have involved a more widespread destruction of infrastructure and targeting of civilians. These have been complicated by intra-communal clashes between age-sets of the Murle. In February and March 2020, a series of intense clashes took place between the Lou Nuer and Murle. Perceptions of a growing common threat from Murle communities have contributed to increasing cooperation between Lou Nuer and Bor Dinka from Jonglei State and escalating ‘tit-for-tat’ attacks between these two sides. At most recent estimates, 8,491 IDPs were sheltering next to the UNMISS base in town (IOM 2020). UNMISS has also increased the number of peacekeepers in the area to support the protection of civilians. These clashes have continued sporadically throughout the first half of 2020, leading to massive displacement and evacuation of some humanitarian agencies (VOA 2020). The Murle have frequently been blamed for abducting children from neighboring communities, however there is no evidence that abduction is more prevalent amongst the Murle nor that infertility among the Murle – which was associated with an epidemic in the 1950-60s – is lower than normal and is driving this.

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams:Pibor (Headquarters), Boma, Gurumukhi, Kiziongora, Lekuangole, Marrow, Mewun, Verteth
Roads:

• A primary road connects Pibor towns to Bor, through Gumuruk, which was open with a “green” status in the dry season and closed with a “red warning” during the rainy season in 2019, according to the Logistics Cluster. A primary road also connects Pibor to Akobo, which was open during the dry season and closed in the rainy season in 2019. Another major road run through Boma , connecting Pochalla in the north to Kuron in Eastern Equatoria. This road was closer during both the dry and rainy season in 2019.

UNHAS-Recognized Heli-Landing Sites and Airstrips: Pibor, Boma

REFERENCES

African Development Bank (ADB) (2018). South Sudan: A Study on Competitiveness and Cross-Border Trade with Neighboring Countries. Retrieved from: https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/South_Sudan_-_A_Study_on_Competitiveness_and_Cross_Border_Trade_With_Neighbouring_Countries.pdf

FAO & WFP. (2018). Special Report: FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to South Sudan. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/3/ca3643EN/ca3643en.pdf

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

HSBA. (2013). SSDM/A-Cobra Faction. Human Security Baseline Assessment for Sudan and South Sudan. Updated 6 November 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/de/facts-figures/south-sudan/armed-groups/southern-dissident-militias/ssdma-cobra-faction.html

IOM. (2020). Pibor UNMISS AA Site Flow Monitoring. Retrieved from: https://migration.iom.int/reports/south-sudan-—-pibor-unmiss-aa-site-flow-monitoring-9-15-march-2020

OCHA. (2019). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2020.

REACH. (2019). Pibor County Flood Assessment Brief. Retrieved from: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/REACH_SSD_Brief_Flooding-Assessment-in-Pibor_December-2019.pdf

VOA. (2020). MSF, ICRC Leave South Sudan’s Pibor Area. Retrieved from: https://www.voanews.com/africa/south-sudan-focus/msf-icrc-leave-south-sudans-pibor-area

REPORTS on PIBOR

Gordon, R: (2014). In the eye of the storm: an analysis of internal conflict in South Sudan’s Jonglei State. Retrieved from: https://securelivelihoods.org/wp-content/uploads/In-the-Eye-of-the-Storm-an-Analysis-of-Internal-Conflict-in-South-Sudans-Jonglei-State.pdf

McCallum, J. (2017). The Murle and the Security Dilemma in the South Sudan-Ethiopia Borderlands. Retrieved from: https://www.southsudanpeaceportal.com/repository/murle-security-complex-south-sudan-ethiopia-borderlands

Santschi, M., et al. (2014). Researching livelihood and services affected by conflict. Livelihoods, access to services and perceptions of governance: An analysis of Pibor County, South Sudan from the perspective of displaced people. Retrieved from https://securelivelihoods.org/wp-content/uploads/An-analysis-of-Pibor-county-South-Sudan-from-the-perspective-of-displaced-people.compressed.pdf

Todisco. C. (2015). Real but Fragile: The Greater Pibor Administrative Area. Retrieved from http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/working-papers/HSBA-WP35-Greater-Pibor.pdf

UNMISS. (2012). Incidents of Inter-Communal Violence in Jonglei State. Retrieved from https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4feac8632.pdf