Our work in South Sudan
River blindness continues to affect many people in Republic of South Sudan. Our work focuses on distributing medication to prevent the spread of this blinding disease.
Sightsavers started working in South Sudan in 2009 and established a country office in the capital, Juba, in January 2012.
Several neglected tropical diseases are present in the country: more than 7.3 million people require medicine to protect them against river blindness, and trachoma is thought to be a problem in 32 districts.
We are helping the country’s ministry of health to distribute medication that eliminates infection and stops river blindness from spreading. In 2018, we distributed more than 546,000 treatments for the disease and trained 5,100 local volunteers, who are based within communities and deliver medication to people in remote and hard-to-reach areas.
As part of a push to improve local healthcare, we also train eye health workers, surgeons and doctors, and have helped to renovate an eye unit at Malakal Teaching Hospital in the north of the country.
At a glance
Total populationWhat we focus on
Key programmes
Your donation could help to protect sight
DONATEMore from eastern Africa
Esther’s story
Esther Anyango, from Uganda, operates on people with blinding trachoma through The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust’s Trachoma Initiative.
Including people with disabilities in African political life
Findings from our research show that lack of education and financial resources, social stigma and inaccessible physical infrastructure contribute to a lack of political participation in Africa.
How soap and superheroes are changing lives
Geordie Woods explains how the Super School of Five trachoma prevention programme is protecting school children from this devastating disease.
Why I support Sightsavers' Equal World disability rights campaign
A lot of people with disabilities grow up not knowing that they have the same right to education and employment as everyone else – we need to change this. My message to other people with disabilities is: We Can.
“That lady who was going blind? Look at her now!”
In northern Kenya, Sightsavers’ Sarah Filbey visits an eye camp that treats both trachoma and cataracts, ensuring everyone gets the life-changing help they need.
September updates: highlights from around the world
News from India, featuring a Sightsavers-supported judoka who won a bronze medal at a Commonwealth competition. Plus the latest from Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Zambia.
Groundbreaking new programme will enable 2,000 people with disabilities to get better jobs
The Inclusion Works programme, funded by UK aid and led by Sightsavers, will create job opportunities for more than 2,000 people with disabilities.
Charles’s story
Charles Ahumuza, who is partially sighted, reveals how Sightsavers' inclusive employment programme in Uganda has helped him to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming an electrician.
How I’m building a career as a blind person in Uganda
Deus Turyatemba of Standard Chartered shares his story of career progression, and explains the bank’s partnership with Sightsavers’ Inclusion Works programme.
We save sight in 30 countries worldwide
Where we work