The October/November 2020 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis process in South Sudan broke down when the South Sudan IPC Technical Working Group (TWG) was unable to reach technical consensus on the severity of food insecurity in six critical counties. In response, and following a request from the Government of South Sudan (GoSS), the three IPC resource partners – United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office…
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African borderlands – such as those between South Sudan, Uganda and Congo – are often presented by analysts as places of agency and economic opportunity, in contrast to hardened, securitized borders elsewhere. We emphasize, however, that even such relatively porous international borders can nevertheless be the focus of significant unease for borderland communities. Crossing borders can enable safety for those fleeing conflict or trading prospects for business people, but it can also engender anxieties around…
The purpose of the paper is to reflect on peacebuilding approaches and methodologies adopted by the UK’s Peacebuilding Opportunities Fund (POF) within conflict affected communities for the purpose of drawing relevant lessons for peacebuilding interventions in South Sudan. The paper identifies both learning that strengthens peacebuilding engagement and informs what can be done better when engaging conflict affected communities, and pitfalls and poor practice to be avoided. This paper is written from a peacebuilding practitioner…
This article examines the provision of basic education services after the end of the Second Sudanese Civil War in 2005, focusing on the condition of the services and its implications for national cohesion during the period after the birth of the South Sudanese state. It argues that the way basic education services were provided after the Second Sudanese Civil War has contributed to the trajectory of inequality that characterised the period before the onset of…
This report explains the realities of life for South Sudan’s youth population, the majority of whom are living in conditions of extreme economic precarity. Young people face enormous challenges in trying to survive and progress in their lives. This is happening in the context of overarching neglect of the citizenry by the government, corruption, ethnic based violent conflict and competition for control of the economy and natural resources, which has significantly undermined the social fabric….
After years of conflict, there is an opportunity for peace in South Sudan, but an effective economic recovery process must underpin the political settlement. The aim of this work is to inform policy for more productive urban jobs in peacebuilding and recovery in South Sudan and for first steps toward private sector development. To this end, this report studies the main urban centers of South Sudan, with a focus on those that are part of…
This article discusses the concepts of failure of states, fragility of states, and the prospects of peace in South Sudan. The article focuses specifically on judicial structural deformities in South Sudan under the qualitative and normative research methodologies, with structural functionalism as theoretical framework. Where preceding works had concentrated their South Sudanese peace-building recommendations on power-sharing mechanisms, this contribution emphasizes a long-term postviolence focus on the building of governance structures. The work recommends that while…
This memo summarizes observations and conclusions from the Conflict Research Programme/World Peace Foundation research on the political marketplace framework and humanitarian crises. It draws upon seven country-specific case studies (Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) and on theoretical and cross-cutting analysis. Its primary focus is on food insecurity and famine, though other forms of humanitarian crisis (for instance, displacement) are also considered. Download
This report provides an overview of the National Dialogue in South Sudan with a focus on citizen perceptions of the process. It lays out the current context in which the National Dialogue is situated, the history of past dialogues as well as the initiation and evolution of the current process. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for how to support the implementation of the National Dialogue’s resolutions and lessons learned for other participatory…
This article draws on empirical data collected in Yei River County, South Sudan, to contribute to debates on hybrid governance in Africa. Current literature offers a limited understanding of the practical workings of hybridity, and particularly of whether and under what circumstances hybridity may meet the interests and solve the problems of citizens. This article discusses how subsequent historical attempts at state-building have left a complex and layered governance system and analyses how this system…