South Sudan - Since the crisis began in South Sudan in December 2013, over 1.1 million people have been displaced from their homes. Over 95,000 of them are sheltering in UN Protection of Civilian (PoC) sites throughout the country, where they are provided with humanitarian assistance.

The IOM Displacement Tracking and Monitoring (DTM) team has been involved in the monitoring and registration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) countrywide since the New Year and on 6th August it launched a new biometric registration exercise for IDPs sheltering in Juba PoCs.

IOM and its partners are now collecting statistics in over 80 of the country’s 240 known IDP locations, but the agency is only targeting PoCs with biometric registration. Despite the challenges presented by the rainy season and a lack of road access, it is working with select state focal points to gather relevant information using smart phone technology and is engaging partners to participate in data collection.

“The DTM is a tool to provide a clear understanding of the changing location, vulnerabilities and needs of affected populations throughout a crisis. As information is captured and analyzed, it is shared with humanitarian actors to help determine the necessary response,” says IOM South Sudan’s DTM coordinator Ester Ruiz de Azua.

In Juba, biometric registration of heads of households began in early May at the UN House PoC site. More recently biometric registration has been rolled out for all family members in the relocation pipeline. To date, 5,112 individuals have been biometrically registered and subsequently relocated to UN House PoC 3, where they can receive better assistance.

Another registration of foreign nationals was completed on Saturday, August 3rd. Some 578 nationals from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan were fingerprinted and issued with new registration cards. 

The current number of IDPs in Juba is estimated to be over 30,000, all of whom IOM plans to have biometrically registered by the end of August.

For more information please contact the

IOM South Sudan Programme Support Unit
Email: ssudanpsu@iom.int