Baseline data collection: Malakal, South Sudan, December 2022

In December 2022, EPP collected baseline data from the beneficiary community in Malakal town before the commissioning of 50kWp solar array with 100kWh lithium-ion battery bank for Malakal Teaching Hospital (MTH) to provide an increased and more reliable source of electricity.  This system is powering a portion of MTH that is operated by the International Medical Corps (IMC). EPP aims to collect follow-up data one year later (December 2023) in order to understand potential changes in socio-economic well-being.

Conditions in Malakal town are dire: poverty is rampant and access to public services such as health care and education are extremely limited. Estimates suggest that close to 100 percent of Malakal town’s population is food insecure, only around 20 percent have access to safe water and sanitation, and around 90 percent of the population spends more than one-quarter of their income on health care. 

There is general dissatisfaction with the ‘government’ health facility (MTH), with most people preferring to make the long trek to the Protection of Civilians site to visit the IMC/IOM clinics. The health infrastructure available to women around child birth is especially poor. There is some hope that with the further electrification of MTH, more and better quality doctors and nurses will be attracted to work there, enabling better health care services and ultimately improved health outcomes.

Read our initial findings from our December 2022 data collection here.