Guit County is an administrative area of Unity State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It has been impacted by the South Sudanese Civil War.[2]
Guit County | |
|---|---|
| Country |  South Sudan |
| Region | Greater Upper Nile |
| State | Unity State |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,334 sq mi (3,456 km2) |
| Population (2017 estimate[1]) | |
• Total | 49,018 |
| • Density | 37/sq mi (14/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT) |
As of August 2015, outsiders had little if any access to Guit County, due to the fighting that began in Dec. 2013.[3]
A large number of people were displaced during fighting in early 2015.
"According to SSRRA officials, besides 2540 vulnerable host population in Nimni, the payam is paying host to about 14,000 IDPs, most of them women and children. Nimni and the four adjacent payams are also hosting an aggregate of approximately 70,000 IDPs."[4]
IRNA reported that Guit County had also suffered damage from flooding in August 2014.
As of April 2015, both animals and people were suffering a high morbidity rate due to difficult conditions. "People are surviving on wild foods including water lilies, lalob fruit, and very limited fish. Large scale animal morbidity and mortality has meant diminishing milk production and unfavorable terms of trade for herders."[5]
Notable people from Guit County include Taban Deng Gai, a Jikany Nuer who is a former governor of Unity state, and a leader of the SPLM/A–IO.[6]
Refugees from Werni in the eastern Nuba Mountains have accused the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) of using famine as a weapon to force them to flee.[7]
The Chotyiel Primary Health Care Centre in Chotyiel Payam, which includes a maternity ward, was assessed in 2021 as having "poor capacity."[8]
Journalists who visited Chotyiel in 2023 found local people scavenging for water lilly bulbs, and were told that nearby lands submerged by flooding would need three to four years of dry weather to become usable again.[9]
References
edit- ^ "South Sudan: States and counties". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
- ^ "Full list of Kiir's proposed new 28 states in S Sudan". Radio Tamazuj. 3 October 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
- ^ Terjanian, James. "South Sudan: The long walk through Guit". 18/08/2015.
- ^ ""They Burned it All" Destruction of Villages, Killings, and Sexual Violence in Unity State South Sudan". Human Rights Watch, July 22, 2015.
- ^ "IRNA Report: Initial Rapid Needs Assessment (IRNA) Nimni Payam, Guit County, Unity State, March 4-6, 2015" (PDF). Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "The Conflict in Unity State Describing events through 23 February 2016". Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Exclusive: Unreached Nuba refugees fled 'new weapon'". October 6, 2013. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
- ^ "ERNE Concern Worldwide Health Facility Assessment Report, Guit & Rubkhona Counties, Unity State, South Sudan" (PDF). 2021. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
- ^ Harlan, Chico (2023-11-02). "Years into a climate disaster, these people are eating the unthinkable". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2023-11-02.