South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Benjamin Takpiny
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with funding from the European Union has supported 5,300 South Sudanese in four counties of Central Equatoria State to acquire nationality ID cards.
The European Union Ambassador in South Sudan, Timo Olkkonen, on Wednesday expressed his gratitude to UNHCR and Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport, and Immigration for their efforts in facilitating the acquisition of nationality ID cards to marginalized people from Yei River, Lainya, Kajo-Keji and Morobo counties of Central Equatoria State.
Olkkonen said the acquisition of nationality cards is a fundamental right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, adding It ensures state recognition and facilitates access to essential services such as legal protection and opportunities provided by the state.
“I thank UNHCR and the government for these achievements and I call on the government to continue its efforts to guarantee rights of citizenship to all that are entitled to it,” he said during the handing of the nationality certificate to beneficiaries in Yei River County.
Olkkonen said the EU is committed to promoting integration, building resilience and addressing the risk of statelessness in South Sudan, adding this latest accomplishment underscores the EU’s commitment, to enhancing services across key sectors such as civil documentation, education, health, and livelihoods for internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and host communities across the country.
The United Nations Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, Raouf Mazou, said the nationality ID cards pave the way for sustainable inclusion, and enabling individuals to access employment, financial services and education.
He said that providing official identification not only promotes socio-economic advancement, but also strengthens community stability
“Thanks to an excellent collaboration with the Central Equatorial State and its counties, as well as with the Directorate for General Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport and Immigration, 5,300 nationality certificates have been issued in the state alone, contributing to a total of 17 402 certificates issued across South Sudan in 2024. South Sudan faces significant challenges in providing nationality documentation, particularly in areas with high concentration of returnees and internally displaced persons,” said Mazou.
Mazou noted that conflicts, displacement, and inadequate infrastructure, especially at the state level, have constrained the government’s capacity to issue civil documentation.
The Director General of the Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport, and Immigration (DCRNPI), Maj.Gen Simon Majur, highlighted the government’s dedication to enhancing access to civil documentation.
“Having a nationality ID card empowers returnees and displaced communities to access essential services such as education, healthcare, social protection, and formal employment. We are committed to expanding access to civil documentation to support reintegration and national development,” said Majur.
He appreciated the EU for supporting and facilitating thousands of South Sudanese to get their national identity documents.
The EU-funded Integrated Approach to Enhancing Protection, Resilience and Solutions in South Sudan (2023-2025) project is being implemented in Laniya, Morbo, Yei and Kajo-Keji counties, and other areas across the country supporting civil documentation, gender-based violence mitigation measures, livelihoods and education in these areas.
The project has helped more than 17,400 South Sudanese to acquire nationality ID cards since the start of the year.
While most of the refugees coming back from Uganda and Kenya to South Sudan do so voluntarily, the situation is particularly dire for the hundreds of thousands who have come back from Sudan in adverse circumstances since April 2023. “Many had never lived in South Sudan, and for them, the risk of statelessness can be high and further action is needed,” Mazou said. UNHCR and the European Union are committed to working together to provide protection and solutions to South Sudan’s displaced populations as well as those of statelessness and are working together the shift the dial away for continued dependency on humanitarian assistance towards sustainability and self-reliance. UNHCR remains committed to collaborating with the EU and government partners to build resilient communities and support pathways toward lasting peace and development.
