Before conflict broke in South Sudan last December, Nyagonar was in school finishing 4th Grade. She dreamed of being a teacher but her ambitions now resume to peace and seeing her mother again.

Nyamach was a happy, high-achieving, girl who loved school and was top of her class. Now the 17-year-old from South Sudan is picking up the pieces of her life following a series of horrific events that she has experienced since violence broke out in her country last December.

Six months on, despite challenges, there are promising signs of recovery across the affected regions – thanks to the massive outpouring of global support, combined with the remarkable resilience of the affected Filippino population.

When violence broke in South Sudan in December 2013, 14-year-old Tut Deng had to flee home with his mother to find safe shelter at the Tomping camp for Internally Displaced People (IDP), on the outskirts of Juba.

Nine-month-old Ayen is one of the youngest citizens in the world’s newest country, but despite his age he has lived enough hardship for a lifetime.

I’m standing in an empty room, when she runs in. A young woman with tears streaming down her face, she is struggling to carry a boy in her arms. His arms and legs are limp. When she sets him down on the bench, we see that he is convulsing and foaming at the mouth. The … Continued

One in every 10 people in South Sudan have been forced from their homes. A staggering number – and one that is rising every day. These are just some of their stories:

Garang, 12, is one of the estimated half a million children in South Sudan who have been displaced by violence. Here is his story in his own words.

Over 100 days of violence in South Sudan has left a quarter of a million children at risk of severe acute malnutrition unless urgent humanitarian supplies reach the most vulnerable citizens in the world’s youngest nation.

I’ve been in South Sudan for two weeks now as part of the UNICEF emergency surge team to support the rapidly aggravating crisis in the world’s newest country. Over one million people have now been displaced as a result of the ongoing crisis and violent conflict.

At the end of January this year UNICEF Ireland Ambassador Donncha O’Callaghan visited Kano State in Nigeria to see UNICEF’s polio vaccination programme in action.

Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes, visited South Sudan last week and writes about the urgency of funding preparations for the rainy season.