This briefing summarizes findings from the Rift Valley Institute’s research project, Community Approaches to Epidemic Management in South Sudan (CAEMSS), which started in August 2020. The project, which began in response to the global coronavirus pandemic, was designed to document how communities across South Sudan have created systems and structures to control the spread of epidemics and infectious diseases in the country. The briefing presents a number of key findings, and makes several policy recommendations, that are explored in greater detail in the project’s final summary report.

‘THE FUEL IS US’: WATER, OIL AND DEBT ON THE SUDAN-SOUTH SUDAN BORDERLANDS
South Sudan and Sudan’s borderlands are run by a patchwork of armed authorities. Since early 2019, when opposition forces were effectively wiped out, these zones