A Study of Statelessness in South Sudan - 2017 such as meeting the household’s basic needs, in particular in the face of widespread food insecurity. One FGD respondent noted, “We find it difficult to obtain nationality [documentation] because we use the little money we get for our family consumption”.112 Populations with no income sources and lowincome households, in particular in rural areas, thus find themselves disadvantaged in terms of access to nationality documentation, and at heightened risk of statelessness if their South Sudanese nationality is called into question. Women, in particular widows, are thought to be especially affected, alongside other vulnerable groups such as elderly people, orphaned children, and persons with disabilities. IDPs and other displaced persons are also perceived to be susceptible to these economic barriers to less than one dollar a day. Insecurity has increased economic vulnerability across South Sudan, impeding access to livelihoods, in particular for women. “Women cannot afford to get such an amount for nationality [certificates] because they depended on selling firewood before, but nowadays, due to insecurity, they cannot access firewood”.113 As such, unless the situation in South Sudan stabilises, access to nationality certification procedures will continue to decline. 2.3.3 Limited Community Awareness There appears to be a marked divide between awareness of the importance of birth registration and nationality documentation in urban and rural Figure 3. Populations Most Affected by Economic Barriers to Access Students Elderly persons Women (esp. widows) Children (esp. orphans) People with disabilities IDPs No Income Source Displaced Persons Low-Income Households (esp. in rural areas) At-Risk Populations nationality certification procedures; refugees from South Sudan in neighbouring countries are likely to face further barriers accessing procedures for nationality certification due to their absence from the territory. The figure below highlights populations facing heightened risk of statelessness due to economic constraints, as identified during the qualitative research – most research participants are estimated to be living on Returnees Refugees settings, with people in rural areas reported to have lower levels of awareness than their urban peers, thus finding themselves at higher risk of being without national ID documentation.114 With regard to birth registration, the Director of State Medical Commission in Juba reports that: “Many people, especially in the villages, do not know the importance of birth registration […] people in the rural areas sometimes do not care a lot, KII with DNPI Staff for Eastern Equatoria State; KII with Local Authority in Renk. FGD with male Dinka in Renk. 113 FGD with female Madi and Acholi in Nimule. 114 As most FGDs were conducted in relatively urban areas, due to accessibility and security concerns, it was not possible to compare awareness levels between participants in urban and rural settings. 115 KII with Director of State Medical Commission in Juba. 111 112 28