title: Providing health services during a civil war: the experience of a garrison town in South Sudan.
abstract: The impact of conflict, particularly conflict arising during civil wars, on the provision of healthcare is a subject that has not been widely considered in conflict-related research. Combatants often target health services to weaken or to defeat the enemy, while attempts to maintain or improve health systems also can comprise part of counter-insurgency 'hearts-and-minds' strategies. This paper describes the dynamics associated with the provision of health services in Malakal, an important garrison town in South Sudan, during the second Sudanese civil war (1983-2005). Drawing on the concepts of opportunity hoarding and exploitation, it explores the social and political dynamics of service provision in and around the town during the war. These concepts provide a useful lens with which to understand better how health services are affected by conflict, while the empirical case study presented in the paper illustrates dynamics that may be repeated in other contexts. The concepts and case study set out in this paper should prove useful to healthcare providers working in conflict zones, including humanitarian aid agencies and their employees, increasing their understanding of the social and political dynamics that they are likely to face during future conflict-related complex emergencies.
authors.affiliation: Kimmage Development Studies Centre, Dublin, Ireland. rkevlihan@gmail.com
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kevlihan
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D036262:Empirical Research; D006801:Humans; D011057:Politics; D012924:Social Conditions; D013397:Sudan; D014857:Warfare
keywords: South Sudan; Sudan; Upper Nile; civil war; complex emergencies; health and conflict; health services; humanitarian assistance; social services; social theory