Humanitarian Response

Violence against adolescent girls: Trends and lessons for East Africa

Year of Publication
2020
Document Publisher/Creator
CARE AND ET AL
NGO associated?
Source URL
https://www.csrf-southsudan.org/repository/violence-against-adolescent-girls-trends-and-lessons-for-east-africa/
Summary
Adolescence is a crucial and defining stage in a girl’s life.However, girls around the world too often face unique risksof gender discrimination and gender-based violence (GBV),including sexual violence, human trafficking, forced marriage and sexual exploitation and abuse. This is particularly the case in humanitarian settings, where girls’ already-limited access to vital services and family and peer support networks
are disrupted by crises and displacement. Despite this, humanitarian programmes and policies do not adequately
address adolescent girls’ needs. Caught between childhood and adulthood, these girls are often not able or willing to access services designed for adult women or young girls.
Adolescent girls face intersecting risks of violence due to their relative lack of power because of both their gender, and their status as children or young people in a world dominated by men. GBV against adolescent girls is rooted in systemic gender inequality, which underpins violence and leads to girls experiencing violence and harmful social norms and practices (like child, early, and forced marriage) at higher rates than their
male counterparts. Harmful social norms can also compound girls’ experience of violence, as some girls are considered “defiled” or “ruined” after rape.
This brief highlights research that examines the unique experience of adolescent girls by specifically exploring the types of gender-based violence and the drivers of this violence affecting this group within the context of South Sudan, where women and girls experience high levels of gender inequality and subordination. Key findings from this mixed-methods research can inform policymakers, UN agencies and donors as they identify and support programs that will effectively prevent and respond to violence against adolescent girls in conflict and
humanitarian settings.
Date of Publication
04/09/2020

UNDERSTANDING HUMANITARIAN ACCESS AND THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN AN ERA OF DEPOLITICIZED WAR

Year of Publication
2021
Document Publisher/Creator
Geneva Call
Institution/organisation
Geneva Call
NGO associated?
Source URL
https://www.csrf-southsudan.org/repository/understanding-humanitarian-access-and-the-protection-of-civilians-in-an-era-of-depoliticized-war/
Summary
This report is based on fieldwork in Unity, Jonglei, and Upper Nile states from August-December 2020. Due to access issues for research related to Covid-19, some of this research was conducted remotely. The report surveys the humanitarian access issues produced by conflict in 2020 through a series of focused case studies. These case studies are not intended to be comprehensive, but are rather thematic, and indicate some of the broader political-economic structures in which humanitarian access issues are embedded, how they are intertwined with issues of civilian protection, and how such issues are perceived by communities and armed-non-state-actors in South Sudan.
Date of Publication
15/06/2021

Localising humanitarian aid during armed conflict: Learning from the histories and creativity of South Sudanese NGOs

Year of Publication
2020
Document Publisher/Creator
Leben Moro, Naomi Pendle and Et al
NGO associated?
Source URL
https://www.southsudanpeaceportal.com/repository/localising-humanitarian-aid-during-armed-conflict-learning-from-the-histories-and-creativity-of-south-sudanese-ngos/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=localising-humanitarian-aid-during-armed-confl
Summary
In contexts of armed conflict, international humanitarian organisations increasingly rely on local and national actors to deliver aid. South Sudan is no exception: while international organisations have worked with and through South Sudanese organisations for decades, the number of local and national NGOs involved in the South Sudanese humanitarian response has increased substantially since the outbreak of widespread armed conflict in 2013. The number of South Sudanese NGOs registered as members of the South Sudan NGO Forum has also grown, from 92 in 2012 to 263 in 2019. The proliferation of South Sudanese NGOs and their increasingly central role in the humanitarian response has been driven, in part, by the significant access constraints and risks associated with operating in South Sudan. International actors increasingly depend on South Sudanese NGOs to reach conflict-affected communities. These shifts are also taking place in the context of global commitments to ‘localise’ humanitarian response, with humanitarian organisations and donor governments committing to shift power and resources closer to affected populations.
South Sudan provides an opportunity for us to learn about the realities of implementing these localisation commitments in the context of protracted, complex crises, including armed conflicts. While there is a desire among many international organisations to localise humanitarian response, there are also concerns that the national NGO sector can be more easily captured by political interests that contradict humanitarian principles, and that humanitarian funds can be diverted to resource violent political economies. In South Sudan, violent conflict has been consistently driven by political structures in which claims on power can be made through violence and loyalties can be bought with money. This raises questions over how national organisations (and humanitarian assistance more broadly) play into this marketplace of money and power.
This report moves beyond abstract assumptions and global-level debates to understand the reality of the struggles and strategies of local and national organisations during complex emergencies. We focus on the histories, politico-economic dynamics and everyday realities of South Sudanese NGOs during South Sudan’s armed conflicts and intermittent periods of peace over the last four decades. We draw on consultations with over 200 people in six sites across South Sudan, including urban and rural areas, and sites controlled by rebel forces as well as sites controlled by the government. We consider South Sudanese NGOs’ institutional development and funding sources, as well as the backgrounds and motivations of their founders and staff. The report focuses primarily on the perspectives and experiences of those working for local and national NGOs, as well as local communities, authorities and former staff, thus bringing these local perspectives to the global debate on localisation.
By starting from the perspective of South Sudan and drawing on detailed ethnographic and historical research in sites across South Sudan, this report is able to make a rare, locally informed contribution to these global debates. This allows us to see the everyday efforts and motivations of South Sudanese NGOs, as well as noticing the structural issues within the aid sector which elevate the risks they face and, over time, reproduce a lack of trust in South Sudanese NGOs.
Date of Publication
07/09/2020

South Sudan Salary Survey

Year of Publication
2024
Document Publisher/Creator
MSF
NGO associated?
Summary
MSF performed a salary study on the remuneration practices for locally recruited staff in South Sudan to
assess its competitiveness in the labour market. The content of this report is subject to the highest degree of confidentiality and may not be distributed to third parties. The study was carried out by Mia Walle Hansen and coordinated by Finnbogi Rutur Finnbogason.

The Secondary Impacts of COVID-19 on Women and Girls in Sub-Saharan Africa

Year of Publication
2020
Document Publisher/Creator
Tal Rafaeli and Geraldine Hutchinson
Institution/organisation
K4D (Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development)
NGO associated?
Source URL
https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/15408
Summary
This rapid review focuses on identifying evidence on the secondary impacts of COVID-19 on women and girls in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It aims to enable a greater understanding of the unique circumstances of women and girls in the region, which could assist with the provision of effective support throughout the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath. Guided by available evidence, the review explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and girls in SSA across various issues. These include some of the following – girls’ education, social protection, unintended pregnancies, access to health services, poverty, livelihood, land rights, women’s and girls’ informal employment, food security and nutrition, female health workforce, and access to WASH. The review touches upon, but does not thoroughly investigates the following topics as they are considered in other reviews - Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), girls’ and women’s rights, child marriage, harmful social norms, and women’s political participation, leadership and empowerment. Despite the limited data, the review found that based on emerging evidence and lessons from past health crises, there is strong evidence to suggest that women and girls in SSA will suffer from extreme and multifaceted negative secondary impact as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Some of which may include higher poverty rates, increase in unplanned pregnancies, a surge in school dropout rates and child labour of adolescent girls, loss of income and reduced financial empowerment, increased household work, reduced access to healthcare and WASH alongside increased maternal deaths, and greater food insecurity and malnutrition.
Date of Publication
08/09/2020

Access to Health for Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in South Sudan

Year of Publication
2020
Document Publisher/Creator
United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and OHCHR
NGO associated?
Source URL
https://www.csrf-southsudan.org/repository/access-to-health-for-survivors-of-conflict-related-sexual-violence-in-south-sudan/
Summary
Survivors of conflict-related sexual violence continue to struggle to access adequate medical and mental health care, according to a new report issued by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and the UN Human Rights Office.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear, if there was ever any doubt, just how important it is for everyone to have immediate and adequate access to health care,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. “For the survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, it goes beyond treating their physical injuries and psychological trauma. It is quite simply a crucial step in giving them a chance to rebuild their lives and the lives of their families.”

The report, titled “Access to Health for Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in South Sudan,” takes an in-depth look at the adequacy of health care available in Unity and the Central and Western Equatorian regions, which account for 85 percent of conflict-related sexual violence cases documented between January 2018 and January 2020.

It found that funding for public health care in South Sudan has not been prioritized, with just 1.2 percent (USD 14 million) of the national budget allocated for this purpose. This has resulted in international organizations using donor funding to try to fill the gap. Despite the enormous financial investment, the medical response for survivors of sexual violence remains weak.
Date of Publication
09/09/2020

Cost-Effectiveness in Humanitarian Work: Preparedness, Pre-financing and Early Action

Year of Publication
2018
Document Publisher/Creator
Iffat Idris
Institution/organisation
K4D (Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development)
NGO associated?
Source URL
https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/14218
Summary
Rigorous evidence of the cost-effectiveness of investments in disaster preparedness is limited. However, overall the available data points to disaster preparedness leading to clear reductions in both humanitarian costs and losses due to crises (lost lives, assets, livelihoods). While there is general consensus on the importance of preparedness, significant challenges mean it still accounts for a very small proportion of humanitarian aid. There is a need for more research on the impact of disaster preparedness. This review details the evidence from a number of studies of disaster preparedness impact, focusing on cost (and time) effectiveness. The literature reviewed was a mixture of academic papers and development agency reports published in 2013-2018. Key findings include a study examining the economic case for investment in early response and resilience-building in disaster-prone regions of Kenya and Ethiopia concluded that early response was far more cost-effective than late humanitarian response (Fitzgibbon, 2013). Secondly, a cost-benefit analysis of emergency preparedness in relation to drought and flood hazards in Niger (Kellet & Peters, 2014) found that the benefits of investing in preparedness far outweighed the costs. Meanwhile, a 2015 study by the Boston Consulting Group found that all the emergency preparedness investments examined saved significant time and/or costs in the event of an emergency. A 2016 report (Venton, 2016) gives the findings of a Value for Money (VfM) assessment of DFID contingency funding that was provided early in the 2015/2016 Ethiopia drought crisis whereby timely procurement had helped DFID in saving 18%. A 2018 report (DEPP, 2018) gives the findings of a study of the return on investment (ROI) of DFID’s Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Programme (DEPP)’s capacity development investments in Ethiopia and the Philippines that yielded positive returns. Overall, this review found that there was evidence for cost-effectiveness of disaster preparedness, pre-financing and early action, but there remains considerable potential to increase savings. The literature points to the need for greater research into the impact of different disaster preparedness investments – as well as greater allocation of resources for preparedness.
Date of Publication
16/09/2020

Guidance framework for understanding different forms of violence and their implications in South Sudan

Year of Publication
2020
Document Publisher/Creator
CSRF and WFP
NGO associated?
Source URL
https://www.csrf-southsudan.org/repository/guidance-framework-for-understanding-different-forms-of-violence-and-their-implications-in-sout/
Summary
This guidance framework is the output of discussions involving representatives from operational aid agencies and groups in South Sudan. The purpose of this guidance framework is:
1. To facilitate more nuanced understanding of organised violence in South Sudan and address potentially misleading use of catch-all terms (e.g. ‘inter-communal violence’ or ‘cattle raiding’)
2. To facilitate more constructive inter-agency dialogue and planning through a more consistent use of key terms used to describe organised violence in South Sudan
3. To summarise key considerations from a programming (rather than security/legal) perspective in relation to conflict sensitivity, livelihoods/services and protection.
Date of Publication
11/11/2020

COVID-19: A Catastrophe for Children in Sub-Saharan Africa

Year of Publication
2020
Document Publisher/Creator
UNICEF
NGO associated?
Source URL
https://www.csrf-southsudan.org/covid19/covid-19-a-catastrophe-for-children-in-sub-saharan-africa/
Summary
This report investigates how COVID-19 and other shocks have impacted child well-being in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) during 2020 and the potential role of cash transfers and external resources to help children and economies. It reviews the latest social, economic and financial information from a range of global databases and modelling exercises, draws on emerging country-level reporting and carries out projections where recent data are unavailable. Although information remains incomplete and things are quickly evolving, the outlook is alarming.
Date of Publication
03/12/2020

MOVEMENT PATTERNS AND HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN SOUTH SUDAN: SCENARIOS

Year of Publication
2020
Document Publisher/Creator
ACAPS
NGO associated?
Source URL
https://www.csrf-southsudan.org/repository/movement-patterns-and-humanitarian-needs-in-south-sudan-scenarios/
Summary
Possible developments of movement and settlement patterns and humanitarian needs in the next six months after the re-designation of the Protection of Civilians sites.
Date of Publication
06/01/2021