Rumbek East County, Lakes State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 NBS Census population: 122,832
2021 NBS PES population estimate*: 227,973
2022 UN OCHA population estimate*: 174,891

Ethnic groups and languages: Agar Dinka (Ruop: Ajak, Aliab, Boor, Tiek) (Aliamtoc: Athoi, Dhiei, Duor, Durciek, Kok/Kook, Panyar), ‘Jur Bel’/Belli

Displacement Figures Q2 2022: 8,117 IDPs (+5,866 Q1 2020) and 11,789 returnees (+7,393 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

Rumbek East County is located in Lakes State. It borders Yirol East County to the east, Yirol West County to the south-east, Wulu County to the south-west, and Rumbek Centre County to the north-west. It also borders Unity State (Panyijiar County) to the north-east.

The county lies within the Western flood plain sorghum and cattle livelihood zone, with black clay soil, short vegetation and a meandering network of streams and rivers, which tend to flood and turn the area into swamps in the rainy season. The Naam River flows roughly down the county’s north-south axis. Lake Nubor is located near the county’s northeastern border with Yirol East County. The majority of the population lives in the southwestern region of the county, where water is easily accessible via rivers, streams and springs.

In 2018 it was estimated that 80% of households engage in agriculture (FAO/WFP 2018). This remains the case in figures from 2021 (FAO/WFP 2022). Gross cereal yields for Rumbek East County were at 1.1 tonnes per hectare in 2021, increasing to 1.2 tonnes per hectare in 2022 (FAO/WFP 2023). The main crops cultivated in this region are simsim (sesame), groundnut, millet, sorghum and vegetables. A minority of households also grow cassava and maize. Cattle herding is also a common livelihood activity and herds are grazed within Rumbek East County as well as neighbouring counties. Fishing and farming take place mainly at subsistence levels. Some residents also undertake small-scale trading of essential goods. The county experiences annual flooding during the rainy season which makes agriculture difficult and reduces access to markets. A general lack of physical infrastructure is also reported to be a significant challenge to resident’s livelihoods (REACH 2019).

Over recent years, Rumbek East has faced a deteriorating food security situation. IPC projections put Rumbek East 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. In 2021, Rumbek East was identified as a flood-affected county by the Emergency Response Coordination Centre.

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES

The county headquarters is located in Aduel Payam. Insecurity over the years (including inter-and intra-clan violence and criminality) has limited access to markets – including Aduel – and the maintenance of livelihoods. Flooding and conflict-related insecurity on the road running to Yirol East periodically disrupts trade and the flow of goods and makes parts of Rumbek East inaccessible. Recent erratic rainfall patterns, as well as unusually long dry spells have impacted the ability of Rumbek East residents to cultivate sustainably and secure adequate pasture for their herds. Typically, markets would provide access to food goods when crop yields are low, however inflation has made this challenging for many households.

Rumbek East is home to three (3) Early Childhood Development centres, fifty-five (55) primary schools and five (5) secondary schools located in five different payams.

Rumbek East County was reported to have twenty-four (24) health facilities, all of which were reported to be functional. Among them are sixteen (16) PHCUs and eight (8) PHCCs in 2022. This means that there were an estimated 1.37 PHCUs per 15,000 people and 2.29 PHCCs per 50,000 people according to the WHO. While Rumbek East has no health facilities that meet the technical criteria of being a hospital, the PHCC-level facilities of Aduel Maternity Hospital and Cuei-Cok Maternity Hospital are among the facilities offering in-patient care in the county.

OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2023 estimated that over 116,400 people in Rumbek East require humanitarian assistance (compared to 110,700 in 2021), which accounts for 66% of the estimated population of the county reported in the HNO.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Rumbek East has been severely affected by inter- and intra-sectional clashes and feuds, some of which have endured for several decades. As is discussed further in the profile for neighbouring Rumbek Centre County, social militarisation during the second Sudanese civil war (1983-2005) occurred alongside the disintegration of security and rule of law structures in the Greater Rumbek area, reinforcing a reliance on community-based defence forces. This includes the gelweng (cattle guards), who were organised into an auxiliary force by the SPLM/A during the 1990s, and have continued to exert an influence on community security. The organisation of the gelweng took place following clashes between government and SPLM/A forces in the county in the early 1990s (HRW 1994), and amid escalating cattle raiding from southern Unity State into Rumbek East and the Greater Yirol area, including a major raid on Akot town in 1996 (Nyaba 2001, p.2; Pospisil 2023, p.4). A consequence of this process has been for authority over conflict and security matters to have become increasingly fragmented, with multiple informal armed actors linked to various Dinka Agar sections and sub-sections assuming security provision functions. This has at times contributed to escalations in sectional conflicts, alongside friction between these irregular community defence groups and official security forces.

Although a number of inter- and intra-sectional conflicts have occurred within the Dinka Agar clan, some of the most serious and sustained violence has taken place between the Gony and Thuyic communities, both of which are from the Agar clan’s Athoi sub-section. Conflict between parts of these communities has been dated as beginning in 1994 (UNMISS 2016a), and is concentrated in and around Pacong Payam to the west of the county. During the second civil war, a peace and reconciliation process was initiated in Pacong Payam in 2002 in a bid to resolve sectional conflict (Pact Sudan 2005, p.3). As discussed below, periodic re-escalation of the intra-sectional conflict between the Gony and Thuyic has resulted in increasingly lethal rounds of violent conflict in the Pacong area. During periods of instability in Rumbek East, conflict involving other Dinka Agar sections has often increased elsewhere in the county (and has sometimes overlapped with Gony-Thuyic conflicts), as has cross-border conflict and cattle raiding. In addition, a significant number of traditional chiefs have been the subject of targeted attacks in Rumbek East since the second civil war (Sudan Tribune 2014a).

After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, Rumbek East continued to be affected by sectional clashes (Sudan Tribune 2006), while multiple attempts made to resolve conflict and restore security struggled to engender sustained peaceful relations. In 2009, and amid escalating conflict in Rumbek East (Sudan Tribune 2009a), a peace initiative encompassing the Dinka Agar sections across Rumbek Centre, East, and North counties did not succeed in generating broad support (Sudan Tribune 2009b). In 2010, a peacebuilding workshop aimed to promoting security and positive relations among the gelweng of Rumbek Centre and East counties (Sudan Tribune 2010c). Relations between the gelweng and security forces were strained at several points during the CPA era, with clashes occurring in 2009 (Sudan Tribune 2009c), and again in 2010 in the context of a disarmament campaign (Sudan Tribune 2010a). A number of disarmament campaigns took place within Rumbek East in the CPA era, which tended to result in increased tensions between the military and some local communities and authorities (O’Brien 2009, p.26; Sudan Tribune 2010a). By 2011, serious fighting between parts of the Gony and Thuyic communities resumed in the county (Sudan Tribune 2011).

In addition to violence taking place within the county, Rumbek East has become periodically enmeshed in cross-border violence as well as boundary disputes. Conflict between parts of the Dinka Agar and Atuot/Atwot communities has periodically escalated along the border with Yirol West County, and is typically driven by disputes relating to cattle theft. Cattle-related violence among parts of the Dinka Agar has also spilled over into cattle camps in Aluakluak Payam in Yirol West (Sudan Tribune 2013). Border disputes and cross-border raiding have occurred between some communities from Rumbek East and Unity State’s Panyijiar County to the north, while a border dispute with Wulu County to the south has overlapped with disputes relating to fishing and grazing areas (Sudan Tribune 2009c; UNDP 2012, p.12). In 2016, a land dispute along the border between Rumbek Centre and East counties escalated into conflict (Radio Tamazuj 2016a).

Rumbek East was not directly affected by the national conflict (2013-2018), though raiding and retaliatory attacks increased at several points during the conflict, notably in 2014 and 2015 (UNMISS/HRD 2015, p.26). Following major inter-sectional clashes in late 2014 and reported tensions between youths and security forces, police officers in several areas began deserting their posts due to fear of attacks by armed youth (Sudan Tribune 2014b). Clashes between pastoralist youths and security forces was also reported in 2015 (Sudan Tribune 2015a), while cross-border violence allegedly involving a number of Dinka Agar sections also affected Yirol West the same year (Sudan Tribune 2015b).

During the national conflict, localised intra-sectional violence involving parts of the Gony and Thuyic was reignited following the killing of the paramount chief (and brother to then-governor of Lakes State) in August 2014 (Kuol 2017, p.23; Sudan Tribune 2014a). Retaliatory attacks followed in the wake of the assassination (Sudan Tribune 2014c). By early 2016, the two groups were reported to be engaged in a reconciliation process (UNMISS 2016a).

In recent years there have been various attempts by government officials, community leaders and youth to reduce the violence in the county and along its borders via peace conferences and the establishment of special courts. In October 2015, the state government attempted to mitigate the impact of the escalating violence and its many economic and socio-political knock-on effects by establishing new courts to address these types of incidents specifically (Eye Radio 2015). The courts were meant to target resolving grievances from violence and cattle raiding specifically, in order to interrupt conflict before escalatory dynamics set in. In late 2015, peace conferences were held covering the Greater Rumbek area and Yirol West County, with the Ruop, Kuei and Pakam sections of the Dinka Agar signing a peace agreement (UNSC 2016, p.5). However, the brief calm was broken by a new wave of clashes in April 2016 near the Rumbek Centre-Rumbek East border. In mid-2016, a peace agreement was also reached between two sub-sections from the Kok/Kook section (UNMISS 2016b). Meanwhile, in late 2018, peacebuilding activities were undertaken to strengthen links between the Nuer community of Panyijiar County in southern Unity State and Dinka communities from Rumbek East and Greater Yirol (USAID 2019).

As with other areas of Lakes State (and in particular in the Greater Rumbek area), Rumbek East experienced a pronounced deterioration in relations between various sections and sub-sections following the signing of the 2018 R-ARCSS. Inter-sectional clashes and raiding increased in parts of Rumbek East across 2019 – including between elements of the Gony and Thuyic sub-sections (UNSC 2019, p.6) – with significant violence reported by early 2020 (Eye Radio 2020a). Meanwhile, cross-border violence flared along the border with Yirol West County (Eye Radio 2020b; Radio Tamazuj 2021). Although a peace agreement was reached between the Gony and Thuyic in November 2019 (Radio Tamazuj 2019), violent incidents involving parts of the Gony and Thuyic sub-sections markedly re-escalated across 2020 and 2021, at times drawing in other Dinka Agar sections in support of either party (Eye Radio 2021; UNSC 2021, p.6; Watson 2021). As is discussed in the profile for Rumbek Centre County, perceptions of insecurity have improved in much of Lakes State since a change of leadership in the state in mid-2021, although controversy has surrounded some of the methods employed in reducing levels of conflict (Pospisil 2023).

In addition to inter- and intra-sectional violence, Rumbek East was also the site of clashes between the military and the October 7^th Movement, an opposition group formed by a prominent former soldier and businessman. Shortly after the group’s establishment, the group was engaged by security forces along the border area between Rumbek Centre and Rumbek East counties in June 2020, resulting in the death of its leader and the effective dismantlement of the movement (VOA 2020).

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams: Aduel (County HQ), Akot, Atiaba, Cueicok, Maleng-agok, Pacong, Paloch

UN OCHA 2020 map of Rumbek East County: https://reliefweb.int/map/south-sudan/south-sudan-rumbek-east-county-reference-map-march-2020

Roads:

• A primary road runs east to Yirol town and then 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 secondary road runs north to Panyijiar County in Unity State via Amongpiny/Amok Piny in Rumbek Centre County. During the rainy season of 2022 and dry season of 2023, the road was deemed ”passable with difficulties” up to Amongpiny, and thereafter impassable.
• A tertiary road network covers south-west parts of the county. The condition of the road network is unknown.

UNHAS-Recognised Heli-Landing Sites and Airstrips: None
Additional MAF-Recognised Airstrips: Akot

REFERENCES

Eye Radio. (2015). Rumbek E. forms courts to try Revenge fights & killings- Lakes. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Eye Radio. (2020a). Juba is responsible for deadly Lakes conflict – MP. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Eye Radio. (2020b). Leader calls for deployment of soldiers in troubled Yirol. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Eye Radio. (2021). Lakes clashes resume. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

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.

HRW, Human Rights Watch. (1994). Civilian Devastation: Abuses by All Parties in the War in Southern Sudan. Retrieved 14 February 2024.

Nyaba, P.A. (2001). The Disarmament of the Gel-Weng of Bahr El Ghazal and the Consolidation of the Dinka Nuer Peace Agreement. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

O’Brien, A. (2009). Shots in the Dark: The 2008 South Sudan Civilian Disarmament Campaign. Small Arms Survey. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

OCHA. (2021). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

PACT Sudan. (2005). Pankar Cluster, 2005. Retrieved via Sudan Open Archive on 12 February 2024.

Pospisil, J. (2023). Changing Lakes State? Rin Tueny’s Inclusive Deterrence Approach in Practice. Small Arms Survey. Retrieved 6 November 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2016a). Interclan fighting breaks out in Lakes state. Retrieved 9 February 2024.

Radio Tamazuj. (2019). Western Lakes communities vow to end revenge killings. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2021). 5 dead, 2 wounded in intercommunal clashes in Lakes State. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2006). Six killed in intertribal clashes in South Sudan Rumbek. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2009a). Agaar peace initiative concludes for parts of Lakes state. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2009b). Agaar clans pushed to reconcile in Lakes state. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2009c). Five S. Sudan soldiers, two pastoralists killed in gunfight in Lakes state. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2009d). Youths, gelweng leaders called on to help voter drive in Lakes. Retrieved 9 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2010a). Confrontation in Rumbek East leaves 3 civilians and 13 SPLA soldiers killed. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2010b). Disarmament in Lakes State raises criticism and concerns. Retrieved 9 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2010c). Cattle keepers in Sudan’s Lakes state conduct workshop for peace. Retrieved 9 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2011). Lakes state cattle-raiding incidents. Retrieved 9 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2013). Lakes: 10 dead and 13 others wounded in clashes. Retrieved 9 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2014a). Chief’s death sparks rapes, looting in remote Lakes state villages. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2014b). Lakes state death toll rises as police vacate posts. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Sudan Tribune. (2015c). 40 dead in Lakes state inter-clan battle. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2015a). 10 security personnel killed in South Sudan’s Lakes state. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Sudan Tribune. (2015b). 27 killed, dozens wounded in Lakes state raid. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

UNDP. (2012). Community Consultation Report: Lakes State. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

UNMISS. (2016a). Peace Dialogue held in Rumbek East. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

UNMISS. (2016b). UNMISS witnesses a final peace agreement between Kook-Awach and Kook-Ker sections in Rumbek East. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

UNMISS/HRD. (2015). The State of Human Rights in the Protracted Conflict in South Sudan. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

UNSC. (2016). Report of the Secretary-General on South Sudan (covering the period from 10 November 2015 to 2 February 2016), S/2016/138. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

UNSC. (2021). Situation in South Sudan: Report of the Secretary-General, S/2021/784. Retrieved 9 February 2024.

USAID. (2019). Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS): Q1 FY 2019 Quarterly Report October 1 – December 31, 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

VOA. (2020). South Sudan Army Kills Leader of New Rebel Group. Retrieved 6 February 2024.

Watson, D. (2021). Surface Tension: ‘Communal’ Violence and Elite Ambitions in South Sudan. ACLED. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

REPORTS on RUMBEK EAST

Deal, J.L. (2011). A land at the centre of the World: An Ethnography of the Dinka Agar of South Sudan. Markoulakis Publications.

IOM. (2013). Village Assessment Survey: County Atlas. Retrieved 31 July 2023.

Mawson, A.N.M. (1989). The Triumph of Life: Political Dispute and Religious Ceremonial Among the Agar Dinka of the Southern Sudan. Cambridge University PhD thesis, retrieved from Sudan Open Archive on 9 February 2024.

Smilde, W.M. (2011). Health seeking practices among the Dinka in Rumbek East County. Masters thesis, Wageningen University. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Peacebuilding Opportunities Fund. (2020). What drives the cattle camps? Exploring the dynamics of pastoralist communities in western Lakes State, South Sudan. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Pendle, N. and Wal, G. (2021). Law, War and Returns: Learning from South Sudan. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

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

Saferworld. (2018). Communities tackling small arms and light weapons in South Sudan lessons learnt and best practices. Retrieved 18 July 2023.-South-Sudan.-Report.pdf

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