As part of this special Humanitarian Exchange edition on localisation and local humanitarian action HPN commissioned a podcast on the ‘Accelerating Localisation Through Partnerships‘ (ALTP) programme. The project involved a consortium of international NGOS: Christian Aid, CARE, Tearfund, ActionAid, CAFOD, Oxfam as well as more than 200 local and national NGOs and NGO networks across… Read more »
Country: South Sudan
‘How can we contribute if we can’t participate?’ The accessibility of humanitarian guidance to local and national organisations
In [the Democratic Republic of Congo], we sometimes mix French and English in coordination meetings, but if we want to better understand key information, all reference documents are in English and not everyone is comfortable with it. How can we be effective and contribute with our knowledge if we don’t understand the documents and we… Read more »
Living memory of famine in South Sudan: using local knowledge to inform famine early warning
Soon after armed conflict began in South Sudan in late 2013, humanitarians began raising questions about the risk of famine should the crisis endure, especially if compounded by natural disaster. Only 15 years prior South Sudan experienced a particularly virulent man-made famine, worsened by poor rainfall, while under the watch of the largest coordinated humanitarian… Read more »
Education development in a fragile environment: lessons from Girls’ Education South Sudan
Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) was designed in 2012 during a period of great hope and optimism for newly independent South Sudan. The programme represents a significant investment (£60 million) by the UK Aid in increasing girls’ enrolment, retention and completion rates, and improving learning outcomes in primary and secondary schools nationwide. South Sudan has… Read more »
A ‘call to peacebuilding’: rethinking humanitarian and development activity in South Sudan
A common refrain from international staff working in South Sudan is talk of crises: humanitarian crises, economic crises, political crises, violent crises. Even in the period after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which by comparison with recent years seemed relatively stable, the UN still spoke in 2009 of a ‘humanitarian perfect storm’ resulting from high… Read more »
The effects of insecurity on aid operations in South Sudan
In 2015, South Sudan overtook Afghanistan as the country with the highest number of violent attacks against aid workers. Amid a brutal three-year conflict, aid workers have been both caught in the crossfire and directly targeted by state, criminal and militant groups. Notwithstanding the devastating impact the conflict has had on civilians in South Sudan,… Read more »
National actors in South Sudan
The World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) marked a watershed moment as 15 major donors committed to channel 25% of humanitarian funding to national and local organisations. This ‘Grand Bargain’ acknowledged that the humanitarian deficit, combined with an increase in the number and severity of crises, requires a new approach to humanitarian response. Yet in protracted conflicts… Read more »
The crisis in South Sudan
In May 2013 we published an edition of the Humanitarian Exchange entitled ‘South Sudan at a crossroads’. Despite the challenges facing the world’s newest state, the tone was optimistic. Following the outbreak of conflict in December 2013, that sense of hope has turned to shock and despair: more than 3 million people have been displaced… Read more »
Increasing agricultural production and food security in South Sudan: combining Lead Farmer Field Schools and vouchers
The development of productive and sustainable agriculture in South Sudan has been severely constrained by persistent armed conflict, post-harvest losses, livestock diseases, lack of tools and machinery and weak institutions. As a result, the country’s agricultural production is far from sufficient to feed the growing population, including the many internally displaced people (IDPs) forced from… Read more »