Since South Sudan attained independence in 2011, the country¡¯s socio-economic development has been impeded by a combination of internal conflicts, the ongoing civil war in Sudan and incessant climatic disasters, particularly flooding, that have and severely deteriorated the quality of life for the entire population.

A by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) indicates that the East African nation has a Human Development Index score of 0.381 for 2022, the second lowest in the world after Somalia (0.38). Furthermore, while South Sudan is a signatory to the United Nations¡¯ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the report suggests that the nation was experiencing challenges in tackling 13 of the 17 SDGs, with improvements being made only in three: gender equality (SDG 5), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12) and climate action (SDG 13).

It is in this context that researchers from the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Juba and UCL conducted an exploratory study in South Sudan, aimed at both highlighting the role of higher education institutions in achieving the SDGs in the country, and identifying areas in need of attention.

The research, which was carried out from September 2023 to July 2024 with funding from UCL¡¯s Global Engagement Funds, indicates that, despite the economic problems posed by the conflict in Sudan, South Sudan¡¯s higher education institutions have broad potential to contribute to fostering all aspects of development and each of the 17 SDGs. Yet, in practice, the main focus of university programmes was on the basic human needs of poverty (SDG 1), hunger (SDG 2), health (SDG 3) and education (SDG 4), along with gender equality (SDG 5) and peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16) ¨C with the last reflecting the prevalence of conflict in the country.

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Notable here is the lack of emphasis on goals relating to the natural environment. However, there is a particularly strong focus on agriculture and rural development among applied and vocational courses at public universities; the private sector, meanwhile, tends to focus more on business-related courses and theology.

Owing?to the turbulent history of the country and higher education institutions, the learning environment is challenging for students. There is a lack of adequate teaching infrastructure, including classrooms, library facilities and the internet, and there are instances of overcrowding. Students seldom receive direct teaching about the SDGs, but the higher education sector offers a broad range of courses for students to develop professional competence in areas that are relevant to the global goals, while university campuses are seen to promote values of unity, tolerance and respect.

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Research on the SDGs is also a challenge. Lack of funding and staff time means that research is carried out only in a small number of institutions, mainly at the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Juba, South Sudan¡¯s oldest and most prestigious institution. But, even here, a shortage of local journals that prioritise nationally relevant issues is an obstacle for researchers.

A senior university leader summed up the difficulty in prioritising academic research: ¡°There¡¯s a Maslow¡¯s hierarchy of needs. People are still struggling with the basics¡­people have gone five months without a salary. So you cannot really put pressure on anybody to do research.¡±

Nevertheless, our study shows that universities displayed a universally strong commitment to community engagement, with awareness of the critical challenges facing local communities and their responsibility for supporting them. In 2020, for instance, the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Juba¡¯s Institute of Peace, Development and Strategic Studies, in collaboration with the Sudd Institute, formed the , which attempted to resolve political problems in the country.

Universities are also active in engaging with communities through agricultural extension and other rural development work, which often generates mutual benefits. Students, in particular, spend substantial amounts of time with communities through their course fieldwork.

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There is no doubt that the role of universities in South Sudan in fostering the SDGs is restricted by various factors, such as poor infrastructure, exacerbated by institutional displacement owing to conflict. Three of the public universities ¨C Juba, Upper Nile and John Garang ¨C have been displaced at some point, or continue to be displaced, since they were founded in the 1980s. Upper Nile 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, for example, moved from Malakal to Juba in 2014 after being partially destroyed during the 2013 conflict. Environmental threats, especially flooding, also pose serious?hazards for universities.

However, overall, our study finds that while the quality of education and research is held back by lack of infrastructure and funding, universities still play a very positive role in relation to peace-building and mutual understanding between ethnic groups. Universities also display strong commitment to achieving local and national development goals and solidarity with local communities, with important impacts on nutrition, health and school education.

Kuyok Abol Kuyok is an adjunct associate professor at the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Juba, South Sudan. Tristan McCowan is a professor of international education at UCL.

The?Times Higher Education?Impact Rankings 2025 will be published?in late June.??

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