South Sudan

South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011, struggles with challenges including poor access to health facilities, a shortage of skilled birth attendants and a high maternal death rate. Active since 2006, with full-fledged operations starting in 2012, UNFPA supports initiatives to build the health system and to develop capacities for providing reproductive health care, including through training midwives. Other measures seek to prevent gender-based violence, and to develop systems to produce and use demographic data for development.