This paper provides a snapshot of the mental health situation in South Sudan between 2013 and 2016, taking account of the personal reflections of both authors who were engaged in mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programming in the country at this time. It begins by presenting an overview of MHPSS activities from this period, including governmental and non‐governmental organisation (NGO) services, and relevant research and coordination mechanisms. It goes on to illustrate the challenges…
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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.
Uganda hosts the largest refugee population in Africa and is, after Turkey and Pakistan, the third-largest refugee recipient country worldwide. Political and humanitarian actors have widely praised Ugandan refugee policies because of their progressive nature: In Uganda, in contrast to many other refugee-receiving countries, these are de jure allowed to work, to establish businesses, to access public services such as education, to move freely and have access to a plot of land. Moreover, Uganda is…
Civil war and violence often force large numbers of people to leave their lands. Multiple waves of displacement and (partial) return generate complex overlapping claims that are not easily solved. As people return to their regions of origin—sometimes after decades—they tend to find their land occupied by other settlers, some of whom hold legal entitlements. In the places of arrival, displaced people affect other people’s access as they seek to turn their temporary entitlements into…
The Abyei area, which straddles the border of the two Sudans, had been a theatre of war since 1965. In 2016, the Amiet market emerged from a remote forest grove to initiate a new kind of social contract making. It has quickly become a melting pot of various communities and created space for nurturing new relations but has also generated tensions that may threaten its own survival. As stakeholders negotiate a solution to the political…
In 2013, two years after South Sudan’s formation as the world’s newest nation, a costly civil war erupted that has ensnared the South Sudanese people and the nation’s developmental and consolidation process for more than five years. The article explores the current conflict against its historical backdrop, proposing a greater role for religious leaders in the peace and reconciliation processes. It draws upon original interview data generated in 2018 from dozens of South Sudanese informants…
In the context of the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), May 2019, this brief summarises key considerations about bushmeat (meat derived from wild animals for human consumption)in the context of preparedness activities in South Sudan. The brief detailsthe socio-cultural and socio-economic significance of bushmeat amongst at risk communities and perceived risks of Ebola transmission through bushmeat. Its geographic focusrests on South Sudan’s south-western border with the north-eastern border of the…
Conflict resolution scholars and practitioners are increasingly focused on possibilities for broader representation of unofficial stakeholders within peace and national dialogue processes, an idea referred to as “inclusion of civil society” actors. Religious actors are among those eligible to participate, according to those contributing to the discourse on inclusion of civil society. This article considers possibilities for inclusion of religious actors as stakeholder-participants in peace and national dialogue processes including in South Sudan, arguing that…
This paper argues that the Monyomiji age class institution, focused on the youth, is essential in the South Sudan civil war resolution. Local cultures, through which the traditional roles of youth are manifest, should be included at national conflict resolution negotiations to prevent decades of failed national, regional and international interventions. Interventions in South Sudan civil war have excluded traditional peace values, and at times sought to train locals, particularly youth, in conventional-style negotiation and…
In 1963, unrest in Sudan’s three southern provinces (today’s South Sudan) escalated into a civil war between the government and the Anya-Nya rebellion. The subsequent eight years of violence has hitherto largely escaped scrutiny from academic researchers and has remained a subject of popular imagination and politicised narratives. This article demonstrates how this history can be explored with greater nuance, thereby establishing a local history of a postcolonial civil war. Focusing on the garrison town…
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is widely recognised as a violation of human rights and a challenge to public health. Further, VAWG is an under-examined, but crucial component of the overall crisis in South Sudan. VAWG has economic and social costs that have not been adequately recognised either in South Sudan or internationally. These costs not only impact individual women and their families but also ripple through society and the economy at large. The…
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