News

The school re-opened on 6th October for the cohort of 26 Primary 8 students, who continue to prepare for their Primary Leaving Certificate exams which are due to take place in February.

Join us for our virtual walk from Coventry (our HQ) to Ibba, Steps for South Sudan. Our 8,494 kilometre trek will take us through some stunning landscapes while raising money for Ibba Girls' School.

Marking the anniversary of South Sudan's independence, Mark Simmons (FIGS CEO) looks back on the journey of the country and considers how things are now - looking forward with hope.

Today we celebrate the 6th anniversary of Ibba Girls' School and Nagomoro Bridget's birthday, its Founding Chair

Today is National Thank a Teacher Day, an opportunity to celebrate teachers, school leaders and school support staff for their amazing work, not only in these challenging times but all year round

CEO, Mark Simmons, provides this week's update for supporters on the situation in South Sudan relating to Covid-19

CEO, Mark Simmons, provides another regular update on the current situation in South Sudan in relation to Covid-19

Mark Simmons, CEO of Friends of Ibba Girls' School, provides supporters with the latest update on Covid-19

CEO, Mark Simmons, provides an update to our supporters on World Health Day 2020 and extends a special thank you to the school's nurse, Regina

Mark Simmons, CEO of Friends of Ibba Girls' School, provides an update on the current situation in South Sudan in relation to COVID-19.

"No volunteers or staff to visit the school within two weeks of visiting any of the countries at risk as identified by the South Sudanese authorities" - Friends of Ibba Girls' School responds to COVID-19 outbreak.

To celebrate International Women's Day, 2020, we spoke with Nagomoro Bridget, the Founding Chair of Ibba Girls' School to find out more about her.

To mark World Day of Social Justice, 2020, CEO of Friends of Ibba Girls' School, Mark Simmons, reflects on the political developments in the country

FIGS Chair of Trustees, John, with FIGS Trustee, Jean, and IGBS Founding Chair, Bridget, discusses a recent visit to South Sudan.

As Term 3 opens at Ibba Girls’ Boarding School, Mark Simmons reflects on his visit to the school last month and the improving prospects for peace in South Sudan.

Mark Simmons marks the anniversary of South Sudan's independence, looking back on the journey so far and looking forward with hope for the future.

Mark Simmons discusses the current political situations in South Sudan and Sudan.

Even as South Sudan fades from the headlines in the UK, deep-rooted challenges persist and the need for long-term investment in education and development is as critical as ever.

"The sense of optimism and hope on my recent visit to South Sudan was almost tangible..."

Tombura-Yambio Catholic Bishop has dialogued with school girls from Ibba Girls Boarding School in Maridi State.

Radio Tamazuj

Peace is on the horizon in South Sudan, and quality education is the key to building a stable future. by Ador Riak Nyiel, South Sudan National Education Coalition

Minister for Africa Harriet Baldwin was on BBC Woman's Hour today, recounting her recent visit to South Sudan where she saw how UK aid is used to educate girls and keep them in school for longer. We're proud to have been invited to take part in the next phase of the Girls' Education in South Sudan programme, which she mentions - listen from 25:31-32:39. Looking forward to showing what can be achieved for the next generation of South Sudanese girls to have a better future. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bbn6vb

Read FIGS CEO Mark Simmons' blog post reflecting on the South Sudanese journey to and since independence here.

Queen Moses first joined Ibba Girls Boarding School as a student in 2016. Here is some brief insight into her experience here, and her life beforehand.

Pope Francis has called for today, Friday 23 February 2018 to be a day of prayer and fasting for South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Catholic Bishops of South Sudan issue a bold statement on the day of prayer and fasting for South Sudan, calling for the killing to stop, for peace to be made, and offering a safe space to facilitate the peace process.

Click for details of the music CD by Ibba Girls School students coming your way in early March -- as well as a poetry collection and the embroidery from a South Sudanese women's collective!

Sr Orla Treacy from Bray is principal of Loreto Rumbek, South Sudan. The school first opened in 2008 and provides a much needed place of education and refuge for girls aged 5-20.

In this article, Boris Johnson discusses how the best thing we can do to fix the world's problems, is make sure that every girl gets 12 years' education.

Having joined Ibba Girls Boarding School as a student in its first cohort back in 2014, Rahama is now in her penultimate year of primary education there. Here, she shares some of her experiences, particularly what she has learnt so far.

Catholic Bishop Leads Nine South Sudanese Governors and Delegates in Peace Conference.

Pope Francis led a special prayer service in St Peter’s Basilica this Thursday 23 November, for the intention of peace in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Research reveals the stark inequality that drives the global hunger crisis, with the poorest people paying more than they earn in a day for a single meal

In the coming weeks South Sudan’s leadership, the opposition, and a cadre of armed groups are expected to come together to reignite peace talks. For the first time in months, an air of possibility floats over the war-ravaged nation.

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has called on the international community not to forget South Sudan and in particular the serious humanitarian emergency unfolding there.

Hopeful Not Hopeless

Campaigners urge action on ‘global crisis’ as research shows 73% of girls in South Sudan – and 130 million worldwide – are missing out on school

Paride Taban, the Bishop of Torit Catholic Diocese, recently published forty five words that can act as a solution to bringing peace in South Sudan, providing the leaders of the country follow them.

The Emeritus Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Torit, Paride Taban says the international Peace Day should mark the end of war in South Sudan.

Culminating a 15-17 August meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, the South Sudan Council of Churches issued a statement reflecting on war and violent conflict that continue to plague the nation.

JUBA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Margret has decided that South Sudan is not a place to raise children, but she is changing this for future generations.

Pope Donates About Half a Million Dollars to Help War-torn South Sudan in Areas of Education, Healthcare and Agricultural Projects

Akuja de Garang becomes the first British-South Sudanese national to be awarded MBE

Catholic Bishop Taban receives peace and reconciliation award from the Anglican Church

The Catholic Bishops in Sudan and South Sudan have expressed the hope that Pope Francis’ trip to South Sudan, which was called off for this this year, would still be realised at a later date.

The independent research and educational organization, Fund for Peace, has ranked South Sudan the most fragile state in the world.

The UK has historical links with both sides of a vicious civil war

The continued conflict and the impending famine in parts of South Sudan (Editorial, 13 March) is indeed in danger of increasing the “sense that the situation is beyond hope or resolution”

POPE FRANCIS used his first visit to the Anglican chaplaincy in Rome to an­­nounce that he hopes to visit South Sudan with the Arch­bishop of Can­ter­­bury.

“Education must be done and lived”

The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis on Friday received several Christian religious leaders of war-hit South Sudan.

After nearly three years of devastating civil conflict, South Sudanese artists have come together to try and get the country thinking and talking about peace, by launching a public art project in the capital Juba.

Meet the girls who must overcome conflict, hunger, stigma and sexual abuse just to go to school.

Pope Francis has sent a special envoy to South Sudan to urge for an end to violence in the country and to help establish dialogue and trust between the warring parties.

Many of you will have heard in the media over the past week of the further outbreak of violence in Juba the capital of South Sudan, with the senseless loss of hundreds of lives.

On the eve of South Sudan's independence, photographer ROBERT FOGARTY captured the citizens of the world's newest country, in their own words.

The new cabinet of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) in South Sudan has accepted to form a technical committee to review boundaries and determine the number states...

Dubious Good News

Last month, the U.N. released a report outlining a pattern of truly horrific atrocities committed against civilians in South Sudan.

Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) have just recently released this video, which gives a timely insight into the dire context in which schools in South Sudan continue to operate, amid continuing unrest in some parts of the country. Fewer than 1 in 6 women are literate, and nationwide in 2015 there were just 2,000 women in the final grade of secondary education.

The Continuing Journey in South Sudan

Sharing the Sorrow in South Sudan.

For the second year in a row, South Sudan has been designated as the most fragile nation in the world, plagued by intensifying internal conflict that has displaced more than two million of its people.

Education for girls in South Sudan

When Grace fled South Sudan, she refused to give up on her dream to be a doctor. But with refugee numbers soaring and camps at breaking point around the world, millions of children like her simply don’t have a school to attend. So why won’t aid donors invest in their futures?

The world's newest country, South Sudan, has topped the list of fragile states in this year's index released by a leading US-based research institute.

THE Archbishop of Canterbury, visiting South Sudan, amid political instability and in the wake of violent clashes, has urged reconciliation...