After a referendum in January 2011, in which 99 percent of southern Sudanese voted to separate from the north, the southern region became independent on 9 July 2011 and is now called The Republic of South Sudan.

Juba, which hosts about a million people, is the provisional capital, and the Government of Southern Sudan has used Juba as the seat of the government, in accordance with the region’s interim constitution of 2005.

DRC in South Sudan
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has been working with the Southern Sudanese refugees residing in Uganda since 1999. Upon the 2005 peace agreement and effective cessation of hostilities, there was potential for a significant return of refugees and IDPs. As a result, DRC began working in Southern Sudan in late 2005 with the overall objective of providing physical and organisational support to facilitate the return of, and durable solutions for, refugees and IDPs.

Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, security has overall improved in the South. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced families have now returned to their ancestral lands in Southern Sudan. Initially operating only in four counties in Central Equatoria State: Kajo Keji, Yei, Lainya and Morobo for the past four years, DRC’s operation have expanded to other areas in the country, specially Juba Country - the site of the capital - and Aweil in Northern Bahr el Ghazal. This expansion has mainly been a result of the existing humanitarian needs associated with the high rates of returnees and due to border clashes in the disputed border town Abyei. DRC has opened additional offices in Juba and in Aweil (Northern Bahr el Ghazal) to serve more than 1.5 million people across the country.