This report provides an analysis of gender dynamics in community social protection in Northern Bahr El Ghazal (NBG), South Sudan. The analysis is based on field research and a review of desk literature conducted in March 2025. Semi-structured key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted in NBG and Juba with a total of 38 respondents (9 men and 29 women) respondents included individuals aged between 18 and 80 years, and from diverse social…
Entries by CSRF
This blog by Martina Santschi and CSRF calls for a conflict-sensitive engagement on communal land tenure, especially the use of rangelands, forests, and wetlands in South Sudan. As such, the blog is relevant for aid actors who engage in livelihood support, development, infrastructure building, support to returnees, refugees and IDPs, housing land and property issues, and conservation organisations. Settling and farming creates visible marks through buildings, roads, cleared land, ploughed soil, vegetables and grains growing…
As donor aid is shrinking, the importance of social protection is growing, with more focus on how the most vulnerable members of communities can survive. The purpose of this research is to analyse how humanitarian aid-based social protection interacts with community-based social protection, and the conflict sensitivity risks involved. The CSRF team conducted focus group discussions (FGDs) and individual key informant interviews (KIIs) with representatives of I/NGOs, community, local authority, church, traders, among others in…
Area-based approaches are increasingly utilised in conflict-affected contexts and in combination with humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus interventions. In South Sudan, the United Nations Reconciliation, Stabilization, and Resilience Trust Fund (RSRTF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are implementing such programming. Both models are beginning to yield short- or medium-term results, revealing opportunities and limitations to area-based approaches being applied to peacebuilding or Nexus programming in South Sudan. This report reflects on the early…
Photo credit: Benoit Morkel / Fauna & Flora Written by Ranga Gworo, this blog explores the extent to which local communities in South Sudan value wildlife. It also discusses strategies that local communities use to protect wildlife. Finally, the blog shares some suggestions on how conservation interventions can apply conflict sensitive conservation approaches. South Sudan is rich in biodiversity. Despite years of conflict that has led to the reduction of the number of Africa’s Big…
The end of the R-ARCSS transition period and the possibility of elections make this a key moment for peace and stability in South Sudan. In many areas, despite an escalation of incidents of violence after R-ARCSS, increased government control in areas across South Sudan means that many state and county governments are actively pursuing an agenda of stability. Yet, for most South Sudanese, this current state of affairs is not what the Dinka could call…
South Sudan has a diverse array of ecosystems, rich biodiversity in both flora and fauna, and an abundance of natural resources, including large areas of natural forests, considerable water sources and deposits of petroleum, gold and other minerals. The majority of the population in South Sudan are dependent on natural resources for subsistence livelihoods, particularly poorer and more vulnerable communities in rural areas. A combination of a shift to over-use of natural resources due to…
This CSRF report focuses on the return and reintegration resulting from the current influx of returnees and refugees from Sudan and other neighbouring countries. Specifically, the report explores the risks associated with return and reintegration as well as opportunities for conflict sensitive reintegration and durable solutions initiatives. To inform the current approaches to returns and reintegration, the report highlights key lessons from past returns and reintegration experiences in South (ern) Sudan.
Women in South Sudan are subject to limited access to political, economic, social resources due to the country’s rigid patriarchal structure. Nevertheless, women have been negotiating their agency and influence for decades, playing a crucial role in state-building, peacebuilding, and development processes. Beyond their formal role as agents of peace, considering the informal dimensions through which South Sudanese women influence peace and conflict are vastly significant for aid actors to grasp conflict dynamics and the…
This blog by Sean McGovern and Abraham Diing Akoi, is based on a recently published research report on social media and violence. The blog explores the intersection between the use of social media, including WhatsApp, in times of conflict and violence. Using the case of South Sudan, the blog identifies how communities have used WhatsApp in both positive and negative ways during conflict. The blog provides some recommendations on how to mitigate the detrimental effects…