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Rapid change and standstill: Peacemaking, Covid-19 and rumours in South Sudan

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Information and rumours have a powerful effect on people’s lives. They shape how people experience their environments and view their position in life, and give meaning to the forces that seem to determine this position. Information is often assumed to be a major driver of decision-making, regardless of whether the information is rumour or verified fact. And yet, how information affects people’s lives is often not well examined or established. What is even less explored…

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“This is your disease”: Dynamics of local authority and NGO responses to Covid-19 in South Sudan

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This report explores the dynamics of South Sudanese NGO and local government responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in South Sudan. It considers how these actors – as significant public authorities – responded to the pandemic, and how these responses shaped and were shaped by wider social and political dynamics. A significant theme throughout our findings relates to the trust and mistrust felt in relation to the Covid-19 response, and how the global pandemic took precedence…

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Will the Impact of the Pandemic on the Expected National Output Persist?

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This weekly review contributes to the debate on how the COVID-19 induced hysteresis effects could affect growth in South Sudan. It addresses two related questions: What channels would transmit the COVID-19 scarring effects to the output? What can public policy do to support recovery? The rest of the review proceeds as follows: Section 2 examines the literature on the hysteresis. Section 3 lays out the theoretical framework, relying on Keynesian economics to shed light on…

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Africa’s Peace and Security: The Pressures of COVID-19

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In this article, Crisis Group’s Interim Vice President and Africa Program Director Comfort Ero analyses the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Africa to date and examines the biggest challenges facing the continent in its aftermath. The analysis includes a section on South Sudan and details how the pandemic has impacted the implementation of the peace deal.   Download

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Lessons learned from implementation of a national hotline for Ebola virus disease emergency preparedness in South Sudan

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The world’s second largest Ebola outbreak occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2018 to 2020. At the time, risk of cross-border spread into South Sudan was very high. Thus, the South Sudan Ministry of Health scaled up Ebola preparedness activities in August 2018, including implementation of a 24-h, toll-free Ebola virus disease (EVD) hotline. The primary purpose of the hotline was to receive EVD alerts and the secondary goal was to provide evidence-based…

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Covid-19 and research in conflict-affected contexts: distanced methods and the digitalisation of suffering

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This research note explores the pressing ethical challenges associated with increased online platforming of sensitive research on conflict-affected settings since the onset of Covid-19. We argue that moving research online and the ‘digitalisation of suffering’ risks reducing complexity of social phenomena and omission of important aspects of lived experiences of violence or peacebuilding. Immersion, ‘contexting’ and trust-building are fundamental to research in repressive and/or conflict-affected settings and these are vitally eclipsed in online exchanges and…

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Rumours, Conflict Sensitivity, and COVID-19 in South Sudan

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Christopher Tuckwood and John Green Otunga reflect on how rumours and misinformation about the coronavirus has impacted on the COVID-19 response in South Sudan. Christopher Tuckwood is the Executive Director of the Sentinel Project, while John Green Otunga is the East Africa Programs Manager overseeing the implementation of the Sentinel Project’s UnaHakika (Kenya), Hagiga Wahid (South Sudan and Uganda), Kijiji Cha Amani (DRC), and Runtu Waa Nabad (Somalia) initiatives.    Introduction People all around the…

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The challenges of confronting COVID-19 amidst fragile peace in South Sudan

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Just a few months ago, many South Sudanese were breathing a sigh of relief, believing that the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic had largely passed them by. Today, a virulent second wave is sweeping through the country causing huge harm to people’s health and wellbeing, damaging the already dire economy, and further interrupting the stagnating peace process. The number of cases is headed towards the 10,000 mark and there have been more than 100 deaths,…

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Pandemic Pauses: Understanding Ceasefires in a Time of Covid-19

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Key Findings Since March 2020, conflict parties have declared 25 ceasefires, across 17 countries. Ceasefires have been declared by some conflict parties in Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Philippines, Syria, South Sudan, Sudan, Thailand, Ukraine and Yemen. After an initial period of ceasefires declared following the United Nations Secretary General’s call for a global ceasefire in March 2020, conflict and peace processes are increasingly returning to ‘normal’, as…

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Implications of COVID-19 on East Africa–EU Partnership on Migration and Forced Displacement

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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the current state and prospects of partnership between the East African countries and the European Union on migration and forced displacement. The pandemic has exacerbated the root causes of migration and forced displacement. This is manifested by the continuation of irregular arrivals in Europe including from East Africa, after a brief decline in the initial phase of the COVID-19 response. The strong economic impact of the pandemic on the…

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