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This blog by Natalia Chan and CSRF recognizes the difficult challenges facing South Sudan, and the risks that can be experienced by donors and aid actors. The blog proposes important conflict sensitivity considerations for aid actors during times of crisis. The Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility (CSRF) was set up in the period following South Sudan’s collapse into civil war in December 2013. It was inspired in great part by a period of soul searching as…

This briefing paper focuses on the politics of violence in South Sudan. It examines the factors that led to the delay of the December 2024 elections among other development in the country. Looking at the role of Tumaini Peace in the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and the effects of the war in Sudan on politics in Juba and the violence occurring across the country, the paper finds the…

This paper focuses on the political economy of charcoal production in South Sudan, with the focus on its value chain. The paper identified a wide range of actors who dominate the political economy of charcoal, including producers, transporters, the public and defense sector financiers, landlords, brokers and security providers. The report highlights the current debate over the value, commodification and sale of forests, and it provides nuance understanding of the political economy of charcoal making…

Using the cases of South Sudan and Myanmar, this brief reflects on the impact of aid cuts on conflict sensitivity, and provides recommendations to donors, implementing organisations, and policymakers. Particularly, the report considers different key elements of conflict sensitive programming, including conflict analysis, implementation, partnership, inter-agency collaboration.

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…

This article examines the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development’s (GAD’s) mediation in South Sudan. Focusing on the elements of liberal peace and alternative rationalised approaches, the article identifies discrepancies between the two approaches in IGAD’s mediation strategies. It also provides recommendations on how Africa’s regional bodies and mechanisms, such as IGAD, can re-evaluate its peace theory and practice, including considerations on the effectiveness of the declining liberal peace paradigm. Read more here

The report examines how individuals, communities and public authorities use protection practices during times of conflict. Using the case study of Leer and Bor, the report found some groups’ protection strategies, which are drawn from their long-standing experiences of navigating safety in a challenging context, knowledge of local landscapes, armed actors, norms of restraints and violence and the like. Finally, the report offers entry points on how humanitarian interventions can enhance realistic prospects of positive…

Using the case studies of several countries, including South Sudan, this report explores the relationship between national dialogues and transitional justices. The report found interlinkages between national dialogues and transitional justice, and it identifies challenges of integrating transitional justice into national dialogues, including power imbalance, lack of political will and ongoing security and violence. To enhance the integration of the two approaches, the report shares some recommendations on how these processes can reinforce and complement…

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…

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