South Sudan: Crippled justice system and blanket amnesties fuelling impunity for war crimes Two and a half years after South Sudan gained its independence, soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir Mayardit andthen Vice President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon clashed in the country’s capital, igniting an armed conflict between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the national army, and armed opposition groups including the SPLA-In Opposition (SPLA-IO). Both government and opposition forces have committed crimes under…
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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.
In July and August 2019, a Refugees International team visited Juba and Malakal in South Sudan and interviewed dozens of UN, government, and nongovernmental organization (NGO) officials, as well as internally displaced people (IDPs) living in Protection of Civilian sites (PoCs) in Juba and Malakal. They also interviewed several local women’s groups. The team asked interviewees about the situation generally, but also focused on the unique challenges and protection risks that women and girls face…
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…
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…
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…
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is an important human rights concern and a pervasive issue affecting women and girls during times of conflict and humanitarian crisis. In 2016, the What Works to Prevent VAWG programme (hereafter What Works) published an evidence brief summarising the existing evidence base on VAWG in these settings including in South Sudan. While the brief demonstrated that there is very limited evidence on what works to prevent and respond to…
The civil war that began in South Sudan in December 2013 has had dire consequences for the Shilluk of Upper Nile. Attacks by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and allied militia forces have forcibly displaced tens of thousands of people. Many of those displaced have fled to Sudan—just as they did during the second civil war (1983–2005)—where they eke out an uncertain existence. On the east bank of the White Nile, where there was…
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