Yirol West County, Lakes State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 NBS Census population: 103,190
2021 NBS PES population estimate*: 181,025
2022 UN OCHA population estimate*: 174,804

Ethnic groups and languages: Atuot/Atwot (Apak, Reel: Akot, Jilek, Kuek, Luac, Rorkec)**

Displacement Figures Q2 2022: 21,644 IDPs (-14 Q1 2020) and 11,960 returnees (+3,223 Q1 2020)

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

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Yirol West County is located in Lakes State. It borders Rumbek East County to the north-west, Yirol East County to the north-east, Awerial County to the south-east, and Wulu County to the west. It also borders Central Equatoria State (Terekeka County) to the south and Western Equatoria State (Mvolo County) to the south-west.

The county falls under both the ironstone plateau agro-pastoral and Western flood plains sorghum and cattle livelihood zones. The Lou River (also known as the Dok/Dhok) runs through the county. Pastoralism is an important source of livelihoods throughout the county and an estimated 75% of households engaged in agricultural activities in 2018 (FAO/WFP 2018). This remains the case in figures from 2021 (FAO/WFP 2022). Gross cereal yields for Yirol West County were at 1.35 tonnes per hectare in 2021, increasing to 1.4 tonnes per hectare in 2022 (FAO/WFP 2023). Changing weather patterns, such as long dry spells, have also limited crop yields in Yirol West (FAO 2019).  Major crops cultivated include sorghum, simsim (sesame) and groundnuts, with some farmers also growing millet, cassava and vegetables. Maize is also cultivated on a limited scale. Compared to other parts of the country, ox-ploughs are used to increase crop yields.

Cattle are an important component of livelihoods among the resident Atuot, with young men playing a strong role in the protection and movement of cattle closer to and farther from the River Nile depending on the season. Cattle raids and disputes over grazing have been a significant source of conflict in recent years. Lake Yirol is also an important source of fish and water for the local community but has been affected by pollution in recent years.

The food security situation in Yirol West County has declined in recent years. IPC projections put Yirol West County at crisis (IPC level 3) levels in November 2022, with food insecurity conditions projected to persist at the same level until March 2023, whereupon it deteriorates to emergency (IPC level 4) levels. As of November 2022, over 25% of households in the county meet between 25% and 50% of their calorific needs through humanitarian assistance, though projections for December 2022 to July 2023 indicate that fewer than 25% will require humanitarian assistance during this time period.

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES

The county HQ is in Yirol Town in Yirol Payam. Though Yirol town is relatively well connected to Rumbek town to the west and the port of Shambe (in Yirol East County) to the north, adverse seasonal road conditions can leave the town isolated from other parts of the state. Yirol is regarded as a comparatively stable and ordered town, while conflict in its environs has been curbed following a series of peace meetings in 2010 and 2011 (Ryle and Amuom 2018). Barring a serious clash in April 2021 in Anuol Payam (Sudans Post 2021), insecurity has been relatively limited in the county in recent years.

Yirol West County was reported to have thirteen (13) health facilities, all of which were reported to be functional. Among them are eight (8) PHCUs, two (2) PHCCs and three (3) hospitals in 2022. This means that there were an estimated 0.69 PHCUs per 15,000 people and 0.57 PHCCs per 50,000 people according to the WHO. Yirol County Hospital was reported to be moderately functional while Mapourdit County Hospital and St. Joseph’s TB PHCC (designated as a hospital) are reported as having limited functionality. Residents of Yirol West report having to travel long distances (up to one day or more) to reach their nearest healthcare facility.

Yirol West County is home to four (4) Early Childhood Development centres, fifty-eight (58) primary schools and four (4) secondary schools. Three secondary schools are based in Yirol Town Payam while Aluak-Luak Secondary is located in its eponymous payam. Education facilities and services have been impacted by teachers in the county leaving their jobs due to salary payments being significantly delayed (REACH 2019).

OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2023 estimated that over 105,700 people in Yirol West have humanitarian needs (up from 102,100 in 2021), which represents 60% of the projected population.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Violence between communities from Yirol West and neighbouring counties and states has presented a longstanding challenge to the county. The period between the CPA in 2005 and independence in 2011 saw an escalation of raids on cattle camps escalated between the Dinka Apaak/Atuot of Yirol West and Dinka Ciec of Yirol East (Ryle and Amuom 2018). In 2012, community consultations noted that clashes in the Yirol West related primarily to access to water sources, border disputes and access to grazing land for cattle (UNDP 2012). The limited number of boreholes and water points in particular were seen as leaving communities and livestock vulnerable to disease and creating disputes. However, traditional authorities, county commissioners and communities themselves have attempted to remedy the conflicts through peace forums with some limited success. This was marked by a significant decrease in the number and intensity of clashes within communities from Greater Yirol between 2011 and 2017. Potential explanations of this relatively high level of cohesion within Yirol include: the relative balance of power between the three Atuot, Ciec and Aliab clans in the area; the perceived shared threat from the Nuer to the north and Dinka Agar to the west; the area’s relative geographic isolation away from major trade routes and natural resources; and the lack of prominent role played by Yirol politicians in the civil war (Ryle and Amuom 2018).

Yirol West was not a focal point for fighting between government and opposition groups following the outbreak of civil war in December 2013. However, the government forces accused opposition forces of attacking civilians in the county during the initial stages of the conflict, and clashes between government and opposition forces were observed early on during the civil war. In 2014, the state government announced it would move its headquarters temporarily from Rumbek Town to Yirol Town in Yirol West County in order to monitor the movement of opposition forces nearby along Lakes State’s border with Unity State. There has been mistrust between the Lakes State government and youth in Yirol West. In July 2014, some youth called on residents working for the state government to leave their jobs, after an influential youth leader was murdered, and the following year, a group of Yirol West youth blocked the Rumbek-Yirol road in protest of the governor’s decision to cancel a local road construction program.

As fighting in Juba spread in December 2013, IDPs from Bor South County arrived in Yirol West, either by boat or on foot. It should be noted that the majority of IDPs first sought refuge at Mingkaman in Awerial County, but some later moved into Yirol West, Yirol East and Rumbek Centre because of overcrowding. The number of IDPs in Yirol West has increased from 1,445 in early 2014, mainly in Yirol town, to an estimated 21,658 people in early 2020.

While there has been relatively little violence between communities within Greater Yirol (also including Yirol East and Awerial Counties), there has been ongoing violence involving Yirol West communities and those in neighbouring counties and states. In 2011 clashes between cattle keepers from Yirol West traveling southwards to Mvolo in Western Equatoria led to tensions between the two counties. Peace dialogues facilitated by Nonviolence Peace Force later on in 2011 resulted in a peace agreement signed in June 2011. Large numbers of Yirol West residents migrated into Western Equatoria again in 2014 and early 2015 with their herds in an effort to escape insecurity associated with the civil war. While some migration takes place annually during the dry season, into Mundri East and Mundri West, the FAO flagged this movement as part of an abnormal migration, possibly due to its larger scale. Friction between arriving pastoralists and resident agriculturalists in these neighbouring counties has led to government attempts to force herders to move back to their home states with escorts from the SPLA, with varying levels of success.

These tensions with neighbouring communities and insecurity have continued to present day. A 2019 report indicated that only 17% of assessed settlements in Yirol West felt safe “most of the time”, with 88% reporting that they had experienced looting in the last year (REACH 2019a). Clashes between communities from Yirol West and Rumbek East in early 2020 led to 2,205 people reportedly being displaced, due to disputes over access to land as well as revenge attacks for previous grievances (IOM 2020).

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams: Yirol (County Headquarters), Abang, Aluakluak, Anuol, Geng-geng, Gher, Mapuorit

UN OCHA 2020 map of Yirol West County: https://reliefweb.int/map/south-sudan/south-sudan-yirol-west-county-reference-map-march-2020

Roads:

• A primary road runs west to Rumbek town from Yirol town (via Aluakluak and Akot), and east from Yirol on to Juba via Terekeka (Central Equatoria State). The Logistics Cluster deemed this road passable during the dry season of 2023, though during the rainy season of 2022 the road was designated impassable between Rumbek and Mingkaman, and “passable with difficulties” between Mingkaman and Terekeka (and thereafter passable to Juba).
• A tertiary road branches off this primary road at Piercok village, running east to Yirol East County. Seasonal conditions of the road were unknown.
• A primary road runs from Yirol town through Yirol East County up to the port at Shambe. The road was deemed to be “passable with difficulties” in both the rainy season of 2022 and dry season of 2023.
• A secondary road runs south from Aluakluak to Mvolo town (Western Equatoria State). The road was designated “passable with difficulties” during both the rainy season of 2022 and dry season of 2023.
• A secondary and tertiary road run south of the primary road to Juba in the south-east of Yirol East County, meeting at Wunabiei. The road runs on to Tali in Terekeka County (Central Equatoria State) and then on to Mundri West County (Western Equatoria State). The conditions of this road are unknown.

UNHAS-Recognized Heli-Landing Sites and Airstrips: Yirol

REFERENCES

ACLED. (2021). Regional Overview: Africa17-23 April 2021. 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 13 July 2023.

IOM. (2020). South Sudan Event Tracking—Yirol East and Yirol West, Feb 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Nonviolent Peaceforce. (2011). South Sudan-Mvolo County and Yirol West County Reconcilation Process. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2021). 3 killed, 1 wounded in Yirol West County. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

REACH. (2019). Situation Overview: Awerial, Yirol East and Yirol West Counties June 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Sudans Post. (2021). Violence over eloped girl kills 20 people in Lakes state. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

REPORTS on YIROL WEST

IOM. (2013). Village Assessment Survey: County Atlas. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

REACH. (2014). Conflict Analysis: Lakes, Northern Bahr El Gazhal and Warrap States. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Ryle, J. and Amuom, M. (2018). Peace is the Name of Our Cattle-Camp. Rift Valley Institute. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Saferworld. (2023). Conflict, gender-based violence and mental health in Lakes State: Perspectives from South Sudan. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Wilunda, C., et al. (2017). Changing the role of traditional birth attendants in Yirol County, South Sudan. PLoS ONE 12(11). 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.

** Note: The accurate description of communities in Yirol West and Yirol East is complicated by their linguistic diversity. The Atuot/Atwot generally regard themselves as a separate group to the neighbouring Dinka tribes in Lakes State. However, the Atuot/Atwot are divided into two main sections: the Reel and Apak. While the Reel have their own language and are further sub-divided into the Luac, Jilek, Akot, Rorkec and Kuek sub-sections, the Apak are the larger Atuot section and speak a variety of southern Dinka (Thong Apak). This has led some Dinka and other outsiders to regard the Atuot/Atwot as a section of Dinka. Other historians and customary tales trace the origin of the Reel Atuot/Atwot to Nuer communities.