This research was conducted by Simon Richards and the CSRF. Field research was assisted by Ranga Gworo, Emmanuel Louis, Luka Madhieu Kuot and Gatyiee Gatjiek Liah Wuor.
The research was conducted at the request of The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in South Sudan.
The primary purpose of the research assignment was to explore both the positive and negative influences of health and education services on local conflict dynamics. Given the unremitting humanitarian context in which health and education development initiatives are taking place, the assignment also aimed to identify ways to better integrate Humanitarian, Development, and Peacebuilding (HDP) initiatives.
The overall approach employed three primary lenses: applied political economy, conflict transformation and the HDP triple nexus in exploring the relationship between health and education service provision and local conflict across the locations. Given the diversity and size of South Sudan, field locations were purposely selected to maximise the possibility of obtaining interesting data that might cast light on the research questions.
The study adopted a multi-method critical realist approach, starting with a desk review and combining participatory data gathering approaches; focus group discussions and key informant interviews at community level. Qualitative data, analysis and interpretation was the predominant approach ensuring its collection was conflict sensitive and trauma-informed. Limitations included the challenges of consistent sampling, information and data challenges as well as under-representation from warriors and young women. In addition, assessing contributions of inequities and grievances to latent conflict is challenging.
The research piece finds that while direct causal linkages between education provision and local conflict dynamics are difficult to establish, links between health and conflict, both positive and negative, are evident and clear, with practitioners e.g. contributing to peacebuilding and peace-making catalysing ceasefires, access to civilians, and working cross-line. On the basis of findings, authors make several recommendations for education and health professionals and aid actors across South Sudan.
