This article examines the public authority of chiefs’ courts within the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Protection of Civilians Sites (PoCs). After December 2013, UNMISS peacekeepers opened the gates of their bases to around 200,000 civilians fleeing war. This unintentionally created a legal and political anomaly. Over time, conflicts and crimes rose within the sites, and UNMISS improvised a form of administration. But while the internationals sought technical solutions, people displaced within the…
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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.
Over the past year, political and military actors and agendas in South Sudan have increasingly fragmented, and the political process has stalled. These developments have undermined the security of civilians, the stability of the country, the humanitarian situation, and the viability of efforts to pursue sustainable peace. The population’s mistrust toward international actors has further curtailed the ability of the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) to implement its mandate. In anticipation…
South Sudan is a fragile country. South Sudan is one of the most food insecure countries in the world. Conflict and long standing economic and social changes are disrupting agricultural production, markets, and community livelihoods, which are consequently increasing food insecurity and poverty rates in South Sudan. Though the current macro-economic crisis threatens to worsen food security even further, it also presents an opportunity to tap into South Sudan’s vast agricultural potential. Conflict sensitive efforts…
This policy paper evaluates the prospects of peace in South Sudan within the context of the recently proposed revitalization process of the 2015 political pact. The paper broadly argues that the revitalization process is important, but it must contend with factors that led to the collapse of the original agreement. Highlighting this, the brief discusses how the design of the security arrangements and transitional justice mechanisms in the ARCSS might have led to the faltering…
Caroline Hartzell and Matthew Hoddie’s theoretical model of power-sharing’s four dimensions—political, territorial, military, and economic—is used here to analyze successive peace processes in South Sudan. This multifaceted power-sharing strategy was utilized within both the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), designed to resolve Sudan’s intractable North- South conflict, as well as the 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of the Crisis in South Sudan (ARCISS) that addressed a continuation of intra-South violence. This study investigates the breakdown…
In June 2016, PAX and partners came together in Naivasha, Kenya, to reflect on ten years of cross-border peace work in the borderlands of South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya, one of PAX’s longest-standing peacebuilding programmes. Over the course of three days, we discussed a broad array of subjects, from the most relevant shifts in context and key moments in the development of the programme, to peacebuilding methodologies and the main successes and challenges. Immediately afterwards,…
South Sudan has been at the heart of a relentless civil war for more than 30 years, but its ongoing violence has recently reached a level of unprecedented severity. As armed insurgents continue to clash with the government’s military forces, thousands of civilians have lost their lives and millions remain displaced. Earlier this year, the country experienced a devastating and widespread famine that threatened to starve more than 100,000 people. Even now, as the country…
Humanitarian or development assistance delivered in complex, highly contested and conflict-affected contexts such as South Sudan will inevitably impact on conflict dynamics. These may be positive or negative, direct or indirect, intentional or unintended. Conflict sensitivity is an approach that helps humanitarian and development actors maximise the potential positive, and minimise any potential negative impacts of their interventions on conflict. This document provides context-specific guidance on conflict sensitivity for agencies operating in South Sudan.
Governments in South Sudan have long built their authority on their ability to fashion changing regimes of revenge and compensation, war and peace. Governments’ capture of these regimes has resulted in the secularisation of compensation despite the ongoing spiritual consequences of lethal violence. This article explores these issues by focusing on the western Dinka of Greater Gogrial. In recent years, they have been closely linked to the highest levels of government through familial networks and…
This briefing document of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification outlines the key findings on the food security situation in South Sudan. It suggests that South Sudan entered the harvest season in September 2017 with 6 million people (56% of the total population) estimated to be severely food insecure , out of which 40,000 are in Humanitarian Catastrophe and 2 million are facing Emergency (IPC Phase 4) food insecurity. Post-harvest gains in October-December 2017 are…
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