Giving Compass' Take:

• Devex details the efforts by the United Nations Children's Fund to map areas of South Sudan that have been challenging to reach, so that aid can be implemented more efficiently.

• International development groups may want to collaborate on efforts like this one, so that everyone has access to updated information about the infrastructure of remote regions.

• Beyond geography, conflict in South Sudan has made aid work extremely difficult: Here's what we can do.

A regularly updated, intricate new map seeks to be the first to identify service points, communities, and topography all in one place — in one of the most challenging humanitarian contexts in the world.

In an attempt to better understand the movements, decision-making patterns, and social structures of inaccessible communities across the country, the United Nations Children's Fund created a social map. A digital and printed map that combines topographic and geographic information with social institutions, which can be used to inform strategy, budgeting, partnerships, monitoring, and evaluation decisions.

South Sudan’s lack of infrastructure, road networks and access to information makes it exceptionally challenging to navigate — and access the country’s most vulnerable and remote populations.

“When implementing our programs, we were coming up with a lot of issues. There were places we’d go to but had no idea that there was a river in the middle and you couldn’t cross, or you’d find a village and realize you couldn't get there,” said Shah Jamal Akhlaque, communication for development specialist at UNICEF and the map’s mastermind.

South Sudan is a unique country to operate in because there is no updated data on social, economic, and demographic issues, Akhlaque said. Most of the available printed and web maps, including Google, don’t have details showing infrastructure and social institutions.

Read the full article about mapping out South Sudan by Sam Mednick at Devex International Development.