This report examines how the war in Sudan, and especially the RSF consolidation in Kordofan, is reshaping South Sudan’s borderlands. Recent developments have increased South Sudan’s leverage across the frontier and, for the time being, reduced cross-border conflict. At the same time, they have impoverished communities, deepened militarisation, and strengthened elite control over trade and land. These dynamics are driving greater everyday insecurity, including sexual and gender-based violence, fueling conflict over internal borders, and laying the foundations for future local and strategic confrontation. Women are bearing the heaviest burden, both because they absorb the economic costs of war and because militarisation is reinforcing systems that limit representation, weaken accountability, and restrict access to justice. Drawing on primary research in Northern Bahr al Ghazal, Unity State and Ruweng Administrative Area, the analysis suggests key implications and recommendations for aid actors, requiring a fundamental shift in approach.

CSRF Analysis: Borderlands of Resilience