UPPER NILE STATE, South Sudan — “I was married and had my first child at 14 years old” said Betty*, who fled conflict in Sudan only to find further uncertainty in South Sudan. 

Along with 585,381 other refugees and returnees from neighbouring Sudan, Betty is currently seeking safe haven in a village in Renk County, in Upper Nile State. The area has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting in South Sudan’s current crisis, and many of those seeking shelter are adolescent girls. Approximately 210,900 girls in the country are like Betty – married before 15 years old. 

Child marriage is common in crisis settings, often seen as a coping mechanism for families that are struggling financially; some consider marrying a stranger to be safer for their daughters than facing the sexual violence and coercion that are all too pervasive in displacement, conflict and other crisis settings. 

The circumstances leading to Betty’s marriage were “beyond description”, she told UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, which is the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency. She was reluctant to explain further “I’m a single mother now.”

Marriage, motherhood too soon

National trends actually show encouraging signs of decline in child marriage, the result of ongoing advocacy. Data from 2023 estimated more than half of girls in South Sudan were married before turning 18; the most recent data, from 2026, finds that this has fallen to roughly four in ten girls. But the crisis in border areas like Renk threatens to undo this progress, driving localized spikes among displaced populations.

Driven by extreme poverty and traditional dowry systems that promise a daughter’s marriage in exchange of cattle or money, child marriage rates have increased in recent years due to the conflict. In Upper Nile State, over 70 per cent of girls are married as children.

Marriage tends to be quickly followed by motherhood: Almost half of all young women in the country today became mothers while still children. 

Vicky, a midwife at the UNFPA-supported Shemedi mobile health clinic, said, “We receive many pregnant teenagers in our facility who come for antenatal services. Girls as young as 13 are married off by their parents to old men in exchange for the dowry.” 

Child marriage is a form of gender-based violence that all too often robs girls of their potential and futures. And with limited access to sexual and reproductive health and protection support, girls like Betty face life-threatening risks when they become pregnant. Often their bodies are not ready and they lack any access to healthcare. 

A social worker speaks to Sudanese refugees at the Renk Transit Centre in 2023. Needs for social workers and other supportive personnel are rising in South Sudan, including at this transit centre, in 2026. © UNFPA South Sudan/Levi Edward Lubari 

Safe spaces

The conflict has been brutal; almost 2 million South Sudanese people are displaced within the country. Yet for the country’s women and girls, it is just one threat among many. 

An estimated 2.8 million women and girls require support to prevent and address gender-based violence response. 

Projections indicate 440,000 women and girls are pregnant women, and over a million are either pregnant or breastfeeding – conditions that place them at risk of malnutrition in an environment facing acute, widespread hunger. The situation is especially dire in Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity states.

Over 100 women and girls are displaced every hour, according to the UN.

Coercion, sexual abuse and exploitation are all known to all rise in these settings. 

Manyuon, a 24-year-old mother of four, waits with other displaced women at the UNFPA-supported Pagook Primary Health Care Unit in Jonglei. © UNFPA South Sudan/Levi Edward Lubari 

UNFPA has been working with partners, and with the support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), to  operate safe spaces for women and girls at transit sites. These spaces offer sexual and reproductive health services including antenatal care, and dignity kits containing basic hygiene supplies. Trained social workers provide case management for gender-based violence. Professionals and community volunteers also offer awareness sessions on gender-based violence: what it is and how to get help. And to address the root causes of child marriage, the spaces also provide economic support – an alternative to being married away.

“Women and girls have found these safe spaces as their sanctuaries,” Midwife Vicky explained. “They receive dignity kits, cash for economic empowerment opportunities, free access to clinical management of rape, antenatal services, treatment of sexually transmitted infections and referrals for further support.” 

Local chiefs, police and religious leaders are also being engaged, helping to shift mindsets and behaviours at the household and community levels. 

By Maureen Twahirwa