The MSF Academy for Healthcare has been working in South Sudan since 2020, implementing the Nursing & Maternity Initiative and the Outpatient Care initiative. Since then, more than 330 healthcare workers have successfully completed one of the training programmes.
Currently, the Maternity Clinical Care programme is being rolled out in Kajo Keji, while the Neonatal Nursing Care programme is being piloted in Bentiu.
The MSF Academy also supports a scholarship programme in partnership with the Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery, helping increase access to nursing and midwifery education for students from remote communities.
Since 2020, the Basic Clinical Nursing Care (BCNC) programme has been implemented across multiple MSF projects in South Sudan, despite challenges including conflict, flooding and the Covid-19 pandemic. In some locations, like Agok, Pibor, Maban and Ulang, implementation could not be completed due to those challenges.
More than 290 healthcare providers have successfully completed the BCNC programme in South Sudan to date: in Old Fangak, Lankien, Malakal and Boma, and most recently in Kajo Keji in 2026.
The Maternity Clinical Care programme was first implemented in Old Fangak but it was interrupted due to insecurity. It is currently being implemented in Kajo Keji, for 41 maternity workers.
In 2026, the MSF Academy also launched the first-ever implementation of the Neonatal Nursing Care programme in Bentiu. This pilot cohort includes 24 learners and is an important milestone in strengthening specialised newborn nursing care competencies within MSF projects.
I learnt a lot of skills that I never practised before. With this training, I am a step closer to my dream of saving lives in my community and providing them with dignified quality of care
Scholarship project with the Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery
In South Sudan, the MSF Academy also supports a Scholarship project in collaboration with the Juba College of Nursing and Midwifery. We directly sponsor students from remote locations where MSF is working and, as such, aim to increase access to nursing and midwifery education for people from the more peripheral communities in the country. The pilot group started in June 2022, and five students already graduated. Currently 25 students are participating.
Everything about me has changed: my mindset, my knowledge… Even my ethics now, I now behave like a nurse, I talk like a nurse. I’m now Mama, the nurse.
In 2021, the Outpatient Care learning programme started to be implemented in Maruwa, with the graduation of the participants in August 2022. The strategy for South Sudan was adapted in 2022 in order to better contextualise the programme to the level of the learners. A baseline core competency-framework was established, and a specific tool was developed to assess participants’ level.
In March 2022, the learning activities started as well in Bunj-Maban, with four learners completing the programme in August.
In 2023, the programme was implemented in Old Fangak, and in 2024 it was also fully completed in Lankien.
A clinical mentor and a learner during a classroom session in Malakal, South Sudan, 2023.
©Alicia Gonzalez/MSF
Three graduates of the Basic Clinical Nursing Care programme during the graduation ceremony in Lankien, South Sudan, 2023.
©Alicia Gonzalez/MSF
Learners completing a handover process at the hospital, during a clinical mentoring session at a patient's bedside, Malakal, South Sudan, 2023. ©MSF
A learner practicing patient moving and positioning in the Academy's skills lab, Malakal, South Sudan, 2023. ©MSF
