NPA first intervened in South Sudan in 1985 with the aim of helping the South Sudanese through a difficult time with little international aid. At that time all aid to Sudan was coordinated through Khartoum, and prioritized to the areas controlled by the Government, leaving the tribes in South Sudan with close to no support. Earlier programmes have been focused on Food Security, Rural Development and Community Development (including Vocational Skills Training).

NPA  Mine Action - South Sudan

The NPA Mine Action programme in South Sudan was established on the back of the Emergency and Development interventions described above. The programme was opened in April 2004; operations commenced in September 2004.

As at April 2008, the other NPA programmes are Food Security/Emergency, Rural Development, Health and Civil Society/Development. The Mine Action programme seeks to compliment, and co-operate with the other programmes wherever possible. NPA cross-cutting themes of gender-mainstreaming and HIV/AIDS are applied across the programmes.

The programme has established an operational, logistical and administrative base in Yei River County, Central Equatoria. Operations in 2008 are being conducted in Western and Central Equatoria (Survey and Clearance) and Jonglei states (Route Survey, Emergency Survey and Explosives  Ordinance Disposal (EOD)).