Juba – The International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) team recently concluded biometric registration exercise at the Wau Protection of Civilians Adjacent Area (PoC AA) in Wau and registered 13,042 internally displaced persons as staying on the site.

IOM's biometric registration system has been active in South Sudan since 2014 and its registration database contains records of more than 800,000 beneficiaries as of end of July 2019, with majority of registered individuals across the country being women (56%) and persons under 18 years old (61% of the total).The 13,042 individuals registered in the process (6,083 men, 6,959 women, 58% under 18 years of age) represent a 67 per cent decrease when compared to the 39,167 registered in the previous comprehensive biometric registration exercise conducted in April 2017. The gradual decline in the Wau PoC AA site’s population has previously been documented through DTM’s monthly headcounts.

The headcounts showed a steady reduction of the site’s population with temporary increase over previous months (March to May 2019) in the context of an ongoing conflict in Jur River that led to a new influx, despite which  the overall site population continued to decline again from June 2019 onwards due to the returns which have been identified to Wau town, Raja and other areas within the host community.

“Given the well documented decline in the site’s population, it was critical to conduct this biometric registration exercise to provide our partners with updated planning figures” said Jean-Philippe Chauzy, IOM South Sudan Chief of Mission. “The humanitarian community is aware that some of those who moved away continue to rely on humanitarian service provision and partners are working on solutions that best address these needs in their current locations of return or displacement” Chauzy added.

The biometric registration in Wau PoC AA was conducted in coordination with IOM’s Camp Management and the cooperation of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as the Camp Coordination Camp Management Cluster and Protection Cluster.

“Biometric registration supports accountable humanitarian responses by providing accurate planning figures and ensuring the intended beneficiaries receive assistance during distributions. Such beneficiary records also support improved targeting to ensure special needs are recognized and can be catered for” said Debora Gonzalez, IOM South Sudan’s DTM Coordinator.

IOM’s DTM database is a source of quality data that is regularly updated to support humanitarian response planning.

The implementation of DTM programs in South Sudan is supported by the Department for International Development Fund (DFID), the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the Government of Canada, the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO), the Common Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and World Food Program (WFP).

Find the final report and analysis of the data collected during this biometric registration exercise and other DTM information products, here.

For more information, kindly conduct Nabie Loyce at IOM South Sudan. Tel: +211912380115, Email: nloyce@iom.int