00:00A specialized mental health clinic in Mundry, in South Sudan, is facing an uncertain future.
00:06Its international funding is set to expire, threatening one of the few facilities of its kind in the country.
00:12The clinic, part of the initiative launched in late 2022, was one of the eight sites aimed at introducing mental health care to more than 20,000 people in South Sudan.
00:21While we are in a problem, in war, people lost a lot of their properties, lives, killing family members in front of the family members also.
00:32So these things caused them, most of the community, to become traumatized and depressed.
00:40Backed by Italian and Greek donors, the program has served as a vital lifeline in a nation where mental health services are almost absent from the government-run health system.
00:49With South Sudan heavily reliant on foreign aid to sustain its health sector, access to psychological care remains severely limited.
00:58The World Health Organization runs the countries having the fourth highest suicide rate in Africa and the third and highest worldwide.
01:08Stress is the most problem that we have but we don't recognize because sometimes we feel that it is normal.
01:15But stress might, might trigger from stress, can go to depression, can go to different things.
01:27Last month, authorities in Jumba reported 12 suicides in just one week, sparking public concern.
01:33No further details were released about the cases.
01:35Due to the nature of the mental ill diseases, it's a kind of a disease that runs chronicity.
01:42So people will get a recovery and they will be fine, but if we didn't maintain and sustain that service they are receiving.
01:49In Sudan, suicide affects mostly the internally displaced, fueled by confinement and pressures related to poverty, idleness, armed conflict and gender-based violence, according to the International Organization for Migration.
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