As we close the year 2025, RACBO South Sudan pauses to say thank you. Not a routine thank you, but a serious one; the kind that recognizes sacrifice, trust, and shared responsibility. In a country where needs can feel endless and where every season brings its own pressure, the fact that people and institutions still choose to stand with communities is not something we take lightly. To all our partners, donors, stakeholders, community leaders, government counterparts, peer organizations, volunteers, and friends: thank you for walking with RACBO through 2025.

We also thank the communities themselves. Communities are often described as “beneficiaries,” but that word can hide the truth. Communities are not passive receivers of aid; they are co-builders of solutions. They host our teams, guide us through local realities, challenge us when we miss something, and protect the integrity of programs when conditions become difficult. Every borehole protected from vandalism, every school activity sustained after an emergency, every community committee that keeps meeting even when incentives are not available, and every mother who shows up for nutrition screening or hygiene training is part of why impact is possible.

To our donors and funding partners, we express deep gratitude for believing that local leadership matters. Funding is not only money; it is a vote of confidence. It is also a test of accountability. We recognize that every grant comes with expectations: transparent use of resources, measurable results, protection of people, and honest reporting. Throughout 2025, your support helped RACBO remain present in communities where services are limited, needs are urgent, and hope can be fragile. We are grateful for your patience in complex operating environments, and for your insistence on standards that protect communities and strengthen local systems.

To government ministries, county authorities, and technical departments, thank you for coordination and guidance. Community work becomes stronger when it aligns with public priorities and supports national and local plans. Where approvals were required, where technical oversight was needed, and where joint monitoring helped improve quality, your contribution made a difference. RACBO values partnership that respects the role of government while also ensuring that services reach people quickly and fairly.

Internally, we honor our staff and volunteers. Many of them served under conditions that demand more than professional skill. They worked through long distances, poor roads, heavy rains, security concerns, delays in supplies, and the emotional weight of seeing suffering up close. They kept records, attended coordination meetings, followed safeguarding rules, reported complaints, and still found time to treat community members with dignity. If 2025 had a hidden story, it is the daily discipline of people doing their jobs with care.

RACBO’s work in 2025 remained anchored in recovery, access, and community-based action. Our emergency response and early recovery activities helped families regain stability after shocks. In places affected by displacement, return, or seasonal disruption, RACBO supported vulnerable households with relief support and recovery assistance designed to reduce immediate harm and restore basic functioning. This included supporting households to meet urgent needs, strengthening community referral pathways, and working with local structures so assistance could reach people without increasing local tensions. While emergency work is often measured by speed, we also measured it by dignity: whether people were treated fairly, whether the most vulnerable were prioritized, and whether complaints were heard and resolved.

Water, sanitation, and hygiene remained central to our response and long-term recovery goals. Access to safe water is not only a service; it is protection. It prevents disease, reduces the burden on women and girls who walk long distances, and improves school attendance and household productivity. In 2025, RACBO continued efforts that supported clean water access, rehabilitation and maintenance of water points where possible, hygiene promotion, and community engagement around protecting water facilities. We also emphasized behavior change that communities can sustain: safe water handling, handwashing habits, household sanitation practices, and community-led monitoring. Where WASH committees functioned well, we saw a clear difference: water points stayed safer, conflicts reduced, and communities felt ownership rather than dependency.

Health and nutrition programming remained critical, especially for children under five, pregnant and lactating mothers, and households facing food stress. RACBO strengthened community awareness on prevention, early referral, and basic care practices. Where our teams supported screening, referral, and follow-up, families were able to act earlier instead of waiting until a condition became severe. We also supported community messaging on hygiene and disease prevention, because health is not only about clinics; it is also about what happens at home, in markets, and in schools. The result of steady health and nutrition work is often quiet, but it is real: fewer preventable complications, stronger caregiver knowledge, and better connection between communities and available services.

Food security and livelihoods support continued as a recovery priority. In many parts of South Sudan, families want to work, but the barriers are heavy: limited tools, limited inputs, market instability, and repeated shocks. RACBO focused on practical support that can restore a household’s ability to cope and produce. This included activities that strengthen household production and income options, community skills development, and linkages to local markets when feasible. We also continued to promote community approaches that reduce risk, such as planning for seasonal changes, strengthening local savings habits where communities already practice them, and supporting youth and women initiatives that build income with dignity. When livelihoods improve even slightly, it affects everything: nutrition improves, school costs become manageable, and families regain a sense of control over their future.

Education and child-focused support remained part of our commitment to recovery and resilience. When learning is interrupted, a child loses more than classroom time; they lose routine, safety, and a path to future opportunity. In 2025, RACBO supported education-related activities that encourage attendance, strengthen safe learning environments, and support community engagement around protecting children. Where communities, teachers, and parents worked together, children returned to school more consistently and learning spaces became more organized and safer. RACBO also continued to promote child safeguarding principles, referral pathways for vulnerable cases, and community awareness on child rights and protection. Protecting children is not a side activity; it is the moral test of any society and any organization.

Peacebuilding, social cohesion, and community dialogue also remained important, because recovery cannot last where mistrust is rising. In areas affected by displacement, resource pressure, or local disputes, RACBO supported community engagement approaches that encourage dialogue, joint problem-solving, and protection of vulnerable groups. We worked with local leaders, women, youth, and community committees to reduce harmful rumors, support peaceful dispute handling, and strengthen shared responsibility around community assets like water points and schools. Peace work is not always visible, but it shows itself in small changes: meetings that continue, disputes that end without violence, and communities that choose cooperation even when fear is present.

Across all programs, RACBO upheld accountability to affected populations as a practical standard, not as a slogan. We strengthened community feedback channels, promoted respectful communication, and emphasized safeguarding and prevention of exploitation and abuse. We recognize that trust is easy to lose and hard to rebuild. For that reason, we continue to promote staff conduct standards, complaint handling, referral systems, and community awareness so people know their rights and feel safe to speak up. We also continued improving monitoring and reporting so that decisions are guided by evidence from the field, not assumptions from offices.

If there is one lesson 2025 reinforced, it is that community-centered work is slow, demanding, and worth it. Quick solutions can bring temporary relief, but lasting change requires local ownership, coordination, and consistent presence. It requires partners who do not only fund activities but also invest in learning, capacity strengthening, and systems that outlive a project cycle. RACBO remains committed to being that kind of partner: grounded, accountable, and respectful of community knowledge.

As we look toward 2026, RACBO’s priority is to deepen impact, not just expand visibility. We aim to strengthen quality in service delivery, grow local capacity, and build stronger links between humanitarian response and longer-term recovery. We want more community committees that function independently, more youth and women groups with stable skills and income pathways, more water systems protected and maintained, stronger referral systems for health and protection, and education support that keeps children learning even during difficult seasons. We also seek to strengthen coordination so that limited resources are used wisely, duplication is reduced, and gaps are addressed with honesty.

To every stakeholder who supported RACBO in 2025, this message is for you. Thank you for your trust. Thank you for your scrutiny that improves our work. Thank you for standing with communities that the world can easily forget. Thank you for believing that a locally rooted organization can deliver quality, protect people, and help communities move from crisis toward stability.

May the end of 2025 be a moment of rest and gratitude for all who served. May 2026 bring deeper cooperation, stronger results, and safer, healthier communities across South Sudan.

On behalf of RACBO South Sudan Board, Management, Staff, and Volunteers,
Thank you, and Happy New Year.