The humanitarian community has had to learn about COVID-19 while responding to this new disease. From the start it was known that basic hygiene practices, such as proper handwashing, could help prevent its transmission. However, many displacement settings do not have the required facilities for implementing household and community-level Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures. They may also have weak governance systems for managing and maintaining water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services.

The South Sudan HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan (2013–2017) and the National HIV Prevention Strategy (2015–2017) have highly prioritized behavioural change communication as part of the strategic prevention interventions to reduce new HIV infections.