A year after South Sudan signed a peace agreement to end the country’s devastating civil war, a staggering one-third of its population is still displaced. Few feel safe enough to return home, and the situation remains dire. Little of the peace agreement has been implemented even as a deadline looms to form a transitional government in the next six weeks by November 12. Failure to address key issues, including relocation and disarmament of soldiers and…
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CSRF Research Repository
The CSRF Research Repository aims to support greater contextual knowledge for policy makers, programme managers, and implementers by providing a searchable repository of research, analysis, and resources, and providing periodic updates on new research and analysis.
This briefing paper explores the establishment and reconfiguration of informal livelihood groups and associations as a form of socioeconomic connectedness in Bentiu, South Sudan. By considering these dynamics, aid actors can better understand various livelihood-based strategies that households rely on to cope and adapt during displacement. This understanding may help aid actors to maximize the effectiveness of their interventions and to avoid inadvertently undermining key sources of household resilience. The authors draw from interviews and…
This briefing paper examines changes to wedding rituals and the nature of marriages in the Bentiu Protection of Civilians site and adjacent areas of Rubkona and Bentiu towns. The authors draw from interviews and focus group discussions with displaced residents in the Bentiu PoC and with residents in the adjacent towns of Bentiu and Rubkona to highlight how the shift from a cattle-based economy to one entailing greater use of cash has affected these life…
There is growing recognition of the interaction between aid and the drivers of conflict. In South Sudan, the scale and nature of this international assistance make it inevitable that aid will affect the economic, social and political drivers of conflict for better or worse. This has led to increased interest in and support for promoting more conflict-sensitive approaches to the design, delivery and management of aid. This paper explores the challenges associated with promoting more…
When considering South Sudan’s prospects for 2050, perhaps the largest unknown is the potential impact of technology on the country’s economy, social relations and politics. Technology provides ever-evolving possibilities to transform the economy and the aid sector and to mitigate challenges related to climate change and demographic growth. There is little accurate data on use of technology in South Sudan. As such, this note relies on estimates of technology use and emerging regional and global…
This report explores urbanization in Bentiu and Rubkona towns in Unity State, South Sudan. Using a host community perception survey and qualitative interviews conducted in August of 2018, this case study examinesthe impact that the introduction of a Protection of Civilians site has had on urbanization, establishes the perception of the host community, and clarifies what constitutes urbanization in a South Sudanese context. The findings revealed that insecurity in the area had interrupted development in…
This briefing paper examines changes in social connectedness in the Bentiu Protection of Civilians site and surrounding town. The authors pay particular attention to the evolution of pre-displacement connections, as well as people’s strategies for establishing new bonds with neighbors, friends, and those pursuing similar livelihood activities. These issues are significant for humanitarian practitioners, decision-makers, and researchers. First, our analysis sheds light on people’s own strategies of forming, preserving, and shifting their types and sources…
In recent times, there has been an increasing drive to demonstrate value for money (VfM) for investments made in public health globally. However, there is limited information on practical insights and best practices that have helped implementing organisations to successfully embed VfM in practice for programming and evaluation. In this article, the authors discuss strengths and weaknesses of approaches that been used and insights on best practices to manage for, demonstrate, and compare VfM, using…
Conversations around returns and relocations of internally displaced people and refugees in South Sudan and the future of the UN Protection of Civilians sites are often framed by clear-cut distinctions between single push and pull factors. This framing – often based on perceptions of international actors of what internally displaced people or refugees do or should think – ignores the fact that decisions to stay or to move are made based on complex motivations, in…
More than five years after South Sudan’s first ceasefire agreement, ceasefire monitors are still on the ground. The hope was that their work would help overcome the mistrust between rival factions, halt ongoing violence, and deter further violations. Drawing on interviews with monitors, combatants, politicians, civil society representatives, diplomats, peacekeepers, and others, this report examines the history of ceasefire monitoring in South Sudan and offers recommendations for donors supporting future monitoring processes in South Sudan…
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