A mere two years after achieving independence, South Sudan in 2013 descended into violent civil war, refuting US government claims that the country’s succession was a major foreign policy success and would end endemic conflict. Worse was to follow when the international community declared famine in 2017. In the first book-length study of the South Sudan civil war, John Young draws on his close but critical relationship with the rebel SPLM-IO leadership to reveal the…
repository
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 article traces the origins, development and implications of Human Rights Up Front (HRuF), a bold and visionary initiative launched by former Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in 2013. While HRuF is part of a broader continuum of human rights-related reforms, its scope and focus is distinctive. HRuF puts the imperative to protect people from serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law at the core of the UN’s strategy and operational activities, and obliges staff…
In September 2018 the warring parties in South Sudan signed the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). The R-ARCSS will be implemented in a daunting environment – over the course of the five-year conflict, political and security arenas have grown increasingly fractured. For the agreement to succeed, political and military leaders must convince the population of South Sudan and the broader international community that they are…
International aid is an important part of the political economy of South Sudan and interacts with government, including state and local structures and authorities, in a continuous and evolving manner. Innovation, cooperation, mistrust, and conflict have characterised the relationship between the broader international aid community and the structures that produce and exercise authority in this diverse land. Since the 2013 civil war, though, this relationship has been dominated by mistrust as the international narrative towards…
South Sudan is facing one of the worst displacement crises in the world today. More than half of the population is food insecure and, if not for international humanitarian aid, the country would almost certainly have already faced famine. A new peace agreement is bringing cautious hope to the displaced and is driving discussions of returns from both within and outside of South Sudan, particularly for those in UN-hosted Protection of Civilian sites (PoCs) within…
This report presents a comprehensive survey of the sources and mechanisms of weapon transfers into South Sudan’s civil war since the start of the conflict in December 2013. It has three core findings, all of which may be relevant for the enforcement of the international arms embargo that the United Nations Security Council imposed on South Sudan on 13 July 2018. First, South Sudan’s immediate neighbours have been the main conduits, and sometimes sponsors, of…
In May 2016, 18 donor countries and 16 aid organisations (including United Nations (UN) agencies, international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) and the Red Cross Movement) signed a ‘Grand Bargain’ outlining 51 mutual commitments across ten thematic workstreams. Workstream two – more commonly known as ‘localisation’ – commits donors and aid organisations to provide 25% of global humanitarian funding to local and national responders by 2020, along with more unrestricted money and increased multi-year funding. The objective…
Improved understanding of refugees’ perceptions of provision of humanitarian support in these contexts is important to improve design and delivery of humanitarian assistance. Refugee adolescents displaced to low and middle-income countries face a range of adversities. Globally, refugee situations are increasingly characterized by multiple waves of displacement; phase of displacement likely influences risk factors for adolescent refugees. However, evidence is sparse concerning perceptions of the impact of these factors on health and well-being of adolescent…
Despite increasing recognition among international organizations that livelihood security, sustainable peace, conflict prevention and gender equality are complementary goals that require integrated policy approaches, there is to date limited evidence about the links between these key development pillars. This article provides an analysis of the links between food security, sustainable peace and gender equality, by making use of three case studies including Abyei to illustrate how specific policy interventions can simultaneously address the differentiated priorities…
Donor-funded (governance) programming in South Sudan has been hampered by numerous challenges, notably renewed conflict and economic crisis. The literature points to a general failure by donors to appreciate these challenges and to donors’ overestimating state capacity, leading to overambitious programmes. Donors are urged to be flexible, integrate political and development interventions, and work through rather than bypass government in order to achieve long-term development. K4D helpdesk reports provide summaries of current research, evidence and…
Curious to broaden your search to Sudan?
Try our sister facility CSF