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What’s new? Ethiopia is moving ahead with construction of Africa’s largest dam, despite Egypt’s worry that it will reduce the downstream flow of the Nile, the source of around 90 per cent of its freshwater supply. It is crucial that the parties resolve their dispute before the dam begins operating. Why does it matter? The Nile basin countries could be drawn into conflict because the stakes are so high: Ethiopia sees the hydroelectric dam as…

The net cereal production in 2018 (after deduction of post-harvest losses and seed use) in the traditional sector is estimated at about 745 000 tonnes, 15.5 percent below the average of the previous five years and 2.5 percent less than 2017. It is the smallest recorded output since the start of the conflict. In January 2019, 54 percent of the population (about 6.2 million people) were in IPC (Integrated Phase Classification) Phase 3: “Crisis”, Phase…

Prophets—those recognised as having been ‘seized’ by a divinity—have played an important role in the history of South Sudan, particularly that of the Nuer people. They were seen as being powerful political actors and, alongside chiefs, important intermediaries for the colonial authorities. However, the influence of the Nuer prophets goes much further than mobilizing or de-mobilizing the Nuer population to or from violence. In the UN Protection of Civilians Site (POCS) in Bentiu, where over…

Dignity is evoked specifically in many humanitarian documents and multiple sectors – including food and cash-based aid, livelihoods, education, health and hygiene, shelter, protection and psychosocial support. The Sphere Handbook promotes the overall principles of ‘the right to life with dignity, the right to receive humanitarian assistance and the right to protection and security’, and the first core tenet of the Humanitarian Charter is that those ‘affected by disaster or conflict have the right to…

Five years into South Sudan’s civil war, the main belligerents have once again agreed to stop fighting and form a unity government. But the set of agreements, finalised on 12 September 2018, two years after the last accord collapsed, does not end the country’s deep crisis. It neither resolves the power struggle between President Salva Kiir and erstwhile rebel leader Riek Machar nor outlines a final political settlement for the country. Rather, it establishes a…

Availability of accurate and up to date data and information on land and different land uses, such as agriculture, forestry, mining, wildlife, water, housing and infrastructure, is critical to effective land governance and crucial for planning and managing the use of land and land-based resources. Public institutions and the government need land data and information for appropriate and timely decision-making; while land users, the general public and other stakeholders need it to effectively monitor and…

This report examines partnerships between international NGOs (INGOs) and local/national NGOs (L/NNGOs) in two complex, conflict-driven emergencies: Nigeria and South Sudan. It presents case studies that are one component of InterAction’s Risk II: Local Actor Partnerships project – an 18-month research study funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA). The study involves 10 participating international NGOs (INGOs) and is a part of InterAction’s continuing work on organizational…

The Conflict and Research Programme at the London School of Economics, of which WPF is a partner, has just published a new South Sudan Policy Memo, “The Perils of Payroll Peace.” South Sudan’s peace is structured to create material incentives for political elites and soldiers to stick to the agreement. But it also creates a huge opportunity for the parties to mobilize for a new round of war. This happens through the process of cantonment of…

This ethnographic study reconsiders the concept of tribe and its influence on group boundary‐making practices in South Sudan. The findings revealed ways in which students manipulated their group boundaries by giving different meanings to nominal category of tribe. Further, the study unveiled that, moving in and out from those boundaries, students live in a complex social reality in a postcolonial, conflict‐affected country of South Sudan. Link to publication

This study asks: in the general absence of a functioning and effective civil administration in Juba’s huge suburbs, how have people negotiated personal disputes and neighbourhood management since conflict began in 2013? Who arbitrates in Juba, and on what terms? This study challenges top-down analyses that see political-military elites managing their ethnic enclaves of followers and fighters through nepotism and gifts. Such patronage requires the complex negotiation of responsibilities and rights, including over community safety…

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