For the past four years, the Fund for Peace has ranked the Central African Republic, Somalia and South Sudan as the ‘most fragile states’ in the world, in its annual Fragile States Index (FSI). The three countries’ almost identical scores suggest comparability; however, critics raise concerns about the FSI’s data aggregation methods, and its conflation of causes and consequences. This article treads the uncharted path of unpacking the empirical realities that hide behind FSI indicators….
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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.
The 2015 UN High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) stressed two major themes that Secretary-General António Guterres continues to focus on: first, the primacy of politics in peacekeeping, which he raised in his September 2017 remarks at the Security Council open debate on peacekeeping; and second, the core obligation of peacekeepers and the entire UN to protect civilians, a continuous theme of his tenure. Yet protecting civilians and pursuing political strategies, the defining tasks…
Contemporary debates about humanitarianism in South Sudan focus on the pressing problems of the present, with access issues and violence against humanitarians understandably at the forefront of donor and humanitarian concerns. While valuable and comprehensible, this focus on the present has meant that the ways in which aid shapes conflict in the long term have not been discussed, and are not well understood by humanitarian actors in South Sudan. This paper focuses on a particular…
This article explores how the humanitarian presence and programs in the disputed border area of Abyei between Sudan and South Sudan can be understood as a buffer between conflicting parties, rather than as mere assistance to a displaced population. It aims to contribute to debates about the spatial impact of humanitarian governance and the politicization of aid in protracted crisis contexts, and specifically in relation to territorial disputes and border struggles. It is based on…
This report was produced for Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) by Action Against Hunger UK’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Services. NCA started the ‘Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme’ in January 2014 after violence erupted in December 2013, and it has been implemented in a phased approach with Phase 5 completed in August 2017. The overall objective of the programme is the provision of lifesaving assistance to conflict and displaced populations in South Sudan. This external evaluation…
In July 2011, South Sudan was granted independence and became the world’s newest country. Yet just two-and-a-half years after this momentous decision, the country was in the grips of renewed civil war and political strife. Hilde F. Johnson served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan from July 2011 until July 2014 and, as such, she was witness to the many challenges which…
This article analyses the nature of coordination between the various stakeholders during the design and implementation of a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) process. It makes detailed reference to the contemporary DDR programme in South Sudan as this African country is a relevant example of significant international and local efforts to facilitate DDR coordination in a fragile and complex political and operational environment. The analyses showed that in South Sudan, coordination appeared to have been…
This report shares Oxfam’s experience with a water treatment plant community-led operator in Juba, South Sudan. It contributes to the debate on the role that communities can play in the process of managing water supply systems amid protracted crises. The report gives guidance on how to support professionalization of community services by providing business, governance and institutional support, and calls on donors and implementing agencies to develop WASH programmes which consider medium-term institutional support that…
This research was conducted by Dr. Edward Thomas, Ranga Gworo of the Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility (CSRF) and Kiden Grace Wani of the World Food Programme (WFP) in February and March 2018, and funded by the UK, Swiss, Canadian and Netherlands Donor Missions in South Sudan. Cash-based programmes can help poor households address food insecurity, and to better manage by themselves some of the risks they face. Evidence from around the world suggests that this…
This briefing paper is based on research conducted by the Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility (CSRF) in February and March 2018, and funded by the UK, Switzerland, Canada and the Netherlands. The full report can be found on the CSRF Research Repository. Cash-based programmes are changing the way aid works in South Sudan. Conditional and unconditional cash transfers, grants, vouchers and work schemes are reworking shelter, food security and livelihoods, and development programmes – and they…
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