One of the main challenges for an effective nation-wide response is the severely limited fiscal space the country has to respond to the health and socio-economic shocks derived from COVID-19. Since more than 80% of the country’s budget depends on the revenues from oil, the current decline in global oil prices and demands is a major threat to the government’s revenues. This means that the country may have to rely on external financing to fund measures to tackle the health and socioeconomic impact of the pandemic. However, due to its high-debt risk position,  South Sudan may face difficulties in its ability to take on credit and could potentially  face even greater constraints on the capacities of the government to widen its fiscal space. 

On another hand, from a human development and peacebuilding standpoint it is extremely worrying that despite recent efforts of the government in implementing a social protection system, inadequate implementation and coverage still remain an operational challenge. Since only .06% of the 2018-2019 budget has been allocated to the national social protection policy framework, vulnerable households have had to rely on informal community social protection and ad-hoc donor-based humanitarian aid which currently make up 99.7% of the current social safety-net system.  Furthermore, being ranked 179/180 in the Corruption Perception Index, South Sudan faces a high fiduciary risk of state capture. 

When analysing the poverty and multidimensional deprivation indicators the scenario is even more worrying. It is estimated that poverty will increase as much as 13.9% in South Sudan. Furthermore, from a multidimensional point of view of deprivation, the country is ranked 186th out of 188th countries in the Human Development Index, estimating that over  91% of its population suffers from multidimensional poverty. Among the implications of these figures is that only 14% of urban households and 1% of rural households have electricity. This presents a barrier to information reception with regards to COVID-19 given that most communication is made through electronic devices. This situacion also complicates the ability for children to receive education since the modality of distance learning programs is inaccessible to the most marginalized and vulnerable. Another implication is that only 11% of households have access to adequate water and sanitation facilities which may be a major challenge in the country’s process to contain the virus. 

With regard to food security and livelihoods, the picture is not any more promising. Given South Sudan’s status as a country in a compounding crisis facing a second swarm of locusts, there is a serious threat to food security. This threat compromises the subsistence of a large part of the population (85%) that depends on farming and commercial agriculture for their livelihoods. Inflation caused by the limited amount of imports received due to border restrictions, has further strained the situation. This has translated into higher food prices such as the increase in the price of sorghum of 54-295% and transportation wise, the prices have more than doubled since the onset of the COVID pandemic.

Regarding gender inequality, women face a higher risk of infection due to the burden of being primary caregivers, responsible for managing disease at household level and also constituting the majority of health workers in the frontline. There is also the concern that the pandemic can have a negative impact in regard to gender-based violence (GBV) since the restriction on movement of aid workers would significantly reduce the resources available to SGBV survivors

Another weak point that South Sudan has faced during the pandemic is the ongoing peace process in the country, that so far has led to a rise in violence. This complication is part of a larger state building process which is currently very fragile. The COVID pandemic is leading to an increase in crime, human rights abuse, civiles claims linked to inheritance/family rights, and land and labor disputes.

Regarding the public discourse around COVID-19, there have been some underlying assumptions due to contact tracing and isolation techniques that have created stigma for individuals who have tested positive. Moreover the population of around 1.5 million of internally displaced people, 300,00 refugees and 2.3 million South Sudances refugees in neighboring countries face a very harsh environment. Many live in crowded camps that lack safe and improved WASH facilities and are unable to practice measures such as social distancing and hygiene practices to prevent community spread. Additionally, as retuness transit through urban areas or settle in IDP camps the risk of virus transmission increases. Considering this complicated panorama, many measures such as curfews, restriction of mobility and strict lockdown need to be re-evaluated in face of the potential negative consequences that could detach from them.