South Sudan and Uganda have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding designed to eliminate administrative bottlenecks and accelerate emergency responses along their shared border.
Formalized in Juba, the agreement creates a structured, institutionalized framework enabling the rapid movement of health workers, medical vehicles, and vital emergency supplies across the border during public health crises. Officials from both nations emphasized that porous borders and frequent cross-border travel mean localized disease outbreaks can quickly escalate into regional catastrophes without immediate, coordinated intervention.
The pact addresses long-standing bureaucratic hurdles that have historically slowed down emergency deployments. South Sudan’s Vice President for the Service Cluster, Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, announced that his government will expedite temporary visa and work permit waivers for medical personnel. This ensures that emergency workers can cross the frontier without administrative delays to support joint surveillance and containment efforts.
“The Republic of South Sudan and the Republic of Uganda stand united in our resolve of strengthening cross-border collaboration, seamless information sharing, and preparedness and coordinated response to the public health threat,” Akol stated during the signing ceremony.
South Sudan’s Health Minister, Luke Thompson Thoan Teny, noted that the agreement successfully transforms bilateral cooperation from informal goodwill into a formal rapid-response mechanism. Under the terms of the MoU, the two nations have committed to real-time epidemiological data sharing, mutual outbreak alerts, joint contact tracing, standardized border health screenings, and the coordinated deployment of mobile health units.
Uganda brings valuable expertise to the partnership, having recently drawn critical lessons from managing severe epidemics. Uganda’s Health Minister, Chris Baryomunsi, pointed to his country’s success in containing its most recent Ebola outbreak in approximately 73 days—a swift response that recorded 20 confirmed cases, 18 recoveries, and two fatalities. Baryomunsi reaffirmed Uganda’s readiness to share its operational experience and containment strategies with its northern neighbor.
However, Baryomunsi cautioned that the true test of the agreement lies in immediate execution. He urged both governments to quickly transition from signing the document to implementing a structured roadmap featuring clear priorities, defined responsibilities, strict timelines, and allocated resources. Looking beyond bilateral ties, Baryomunsi also advocated for broader regional cooperation, proposing the establishment of a dedicated standby health workforce that could be rapidly deployed to any African nation facing a disease outbreak, mirroring existing regional security frameworks.
Supporting these strategic initiatives, Tolbert Geewleh Nyenswah, South Sudan Country Director for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), outlined the pressing domestic challenges facing the country. Nyenswah revealed that South Sudan has identified 15 high-risk counties and 22 priority entry points as central focus areas for its national preparedness strategy.
To properly secure these vulnerable zones, South Sudan has rolled out an updated six-month preparedness plan that requires over $30 million in funding. This capital will be funneled directly into upgrading laboratory infrastructure, securing medical supplies, streamlining logistics, expanding disease surveillance, and ensuring the personal safety of frontline healthcare workers.
