Building the nation's body:The contested role of abortion and family planning in post-war South Sudan

: This paper offers an ethnographic analysis of public health policies and interventions targeting unwanted pregnancy (family planning and abortion) in contemporary South Sudan as part of wider 'nation-building' after war, understood as a process of collective identity formation which projects a meaningful future by redefining existing institutions and customs as national characteristics. The paper shows how the expansion of post-conflict family planning and abortion policy and services are particularly poignant sites for the enactment of reproductive identity negotiation, policing and conflict. In addition to customary norms, these processes are shaped by two powerful institutions - ethnic movements and global humanitarian actors - who tend to take opposing stances on reproductive health. Drawing on document review, observations of the media and policy environment and interviews conducted with 54 key informants between 2013 and 2015, the paper shows that during the civil war, the Sudan People's Liberation Army and Movement mobilised customary pro-natalist ideals for military gain by entreating women to amplify reproduction to replace those lost to war and rejecting family planning and abortion. International donors and the Ministry of Health have re-conceptualised such services as among other modern developments denied by war. The tensions between these competing discourses have given rise to a range of societal responses, including disagreements that erupt in legal battles, heated debate and even violence towards women and health workers. In United Nations camps established recently as parts of South Sudan have returned to war, social groups exert a form of reproductive surveillance, policing reproductive health practices and contributing to intra-communal violence when clandestine use of contraception or abortion is discovered. In a context where modern contraceptives and abortion services are largely unfamiliar, conflict around South Sudan's nation-building project is partially manifest through tensions and violence in the domain of reproduction.<br/

Health sector recovery in early post-conflict environments: experience from southern Sudan

Health sector recovery in post‐conflict settings presents an opportunity for reform: analysis of policy processes can provide useful lessons.1 The case of southern Sudan is assessed through interviews, a literature review, and by drawing on the experience of former technical advisers to the Ministry of Health. In the immediate post‐conflict phase, the health system in southern Sudan was characterised by fragmentation, low coverage of health services, dismal health outcomes and limited government capacity. Health policy was extensively shaped by the interplay of context, actors and processes: the World Bank and the World Health Organization became the primary drivers of policy change. Lessons learned from the southern Sudan case include the need for: sustained investment in assessment and planning of recovery activities; building of procurement capacity early in the recovery process; support for funding instruments that can disburse resources rapidly; and streamlining the governance structures and procedures adopted by health recovery financing mechanisms and adapting them to the local context

Risk Factors for Non-use of Skilled Birth Attendants: Analysis of South Sudan Household Survey, 2010

Objectives South Sudan has the lowest percentage of births attended by skilled health personnel in the world. This paper aims to identify potential risk factors associated with non-use of skilled birth attendants at delivery in South Sudan. Methods Secondary data analyses of the 2010 South Sudan Household Health Survey second round were conducted with data for 3504 women aged 15–49 years who gave birth in the 2 years prior to the survey. The risk of non-use of skilled birth attendants was examined using simple and multiple logistic regression analyses. Results The prevalence rates for skilled, unskilled and no birth attendants at delivery were 41 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 38.2, 43.0], 36 [95 % CI 33.9, 38.8], and 23 % [95 % CI 20.6, 24.9] respectively. Multivariable analyses indicated that educated mothers [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.70; 95 % CI 0.57, 0.86], mothers who had three and more complications during pregnancy [AOR 0.77; 95 % CI 0.65, 0.90], mothers who had at least 1–3 ANC visits [AOR 0.38; 95 % CI 0.30, 0.49] and mothers from rich households [AOR 0.52; 95 % CI 0.42, 0.65] were significantly more likely to use skilled birth attendants (SBAs) at delivery. Mothers who lived in rural areas [AOR 1.44; 95 % CI 1.06, 1.96] were less likely to deliver with SBAs. Conclusion Intensive investments to recruit and train more skilled birth attendants’ on appropriate delivery care are needed, as well as building a community-based skilled birth attendants’ program to reduce avoidable maternal mortality in South Sudan