RSRTF South Sudan
Community Violence Reduction (CVR) Programme in Jonglei and Greater Pibor Administrative Area
GRANT RECIPIENT
World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), World Health Organisation (WHO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN Police (UNPOL), Non-Violent Peace Force (NP), Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (VSF-G), Save the Children and Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO)
COVERAGE
Akobo, Bor South, Duk, Twic East and Uror Counties in Jonglei State and Pibor in Greater Pibor Administrative Area
BUDGET
US$ 29,887,113.7
Duration
January 1, 2021 - March 31, 2025
Phase 1: October 1, 2021 - November 30, 2023
Phase 2: December 1, 2023 - November 30, 2025
DESCRIPTION
In 2020, Greater Jonglei experienced a renewed period of spiraling insecurity. Political manipulation of the power vacuum resulting from delayed local government appointments compounded existing political, economic and social marginalization and created a conducive environment for interethnic competition. Subnational and localized violence displaced thousands of people and resulted in hundreds of casualties as violent clashes and reprisals played out between Murle, Bor Dinka and Lou Nuer communities.
Peace dialogues alone have been unsuccessful in altering the cycles of violence which are fueled by an intersection of complex challenges facing Jonglei/GPAA. In January 2020, three pockets of famine conditions were declared through the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). Extreme flooding in 2019, which destroyed food reserves, properties, pasture and livestock, was a major contributing factor to the famine conditions and sparking violence, as communities moved to replenish their lost assets and livelihoods by raiding resources from one another.
The conditions were further compounded by repeated exceptional flooding in mid-2020. New emergencies arose against a backdrop of underlying grievances against a backdrop of grievances rooted in limited political representation and influence, lack of infrastructure, services, and opportunities. Heightened by the absence of strong and effective governance, endemic impunity, the availability of small arms and proliferation of sophisticated weaponry, opportunities for manipulation of ethnic identities and mobilization of groups around political and violent objectives were immense.
Under the umbrella of Community Violence Reduction, the Jonglei/GPAA ABP brings together 16 UN, INGO and NNGO partners from across the humanitarian, development and peace nexus to deliver an ambitious integrated multi-sector programming response to sustainably address the drivers of conflict between Murle, Dinka and Nuer communities.
THE THREE PILLARS
RECONCILIATION
As a starting point the RSRTF programme seeks to restore trust and support peaceful coexistence and social cohesion through gender and age sensitive communal conflict management, prevention, mitigation, and reconciliation. It builds upon local peace processes, such as the Pieri Peace Conference facilitated by the UK Peacebuilding Opportunities Fund as well as UNMISS Civil Affairs Division’s ongoing social cohesion programming. By bringing together communities in conflict to discuss and identify root causes and interventions that can counter multi-layered manifestations of violence the RSRTF partners support communities to move beyond dialogue and implement agreed resolutions, linking tangible peace dividends to community led processes. In addition to reinforcing existing conflict management and reconciliation mechanisms, the RSRTF programme is also supporting the identification and return of abductees, led by UNMISS HRD in cooperation with the NGO Save the Children and local partners to immediately mitigate conflict triggers. Supported by UNMISS Political and Civil Affairs Divisions the project also integrates relevant advocacy and engagement with government and political stakeholders, who may instigate or have influence over potential perpetrators, building coherence between grassroots, state, and national-level peace processes.
STABILIZATION
Supported by UNMISS Force peacekeeping capability, UNDP, together with UNPOL and UNMISS Rule of Law Advisory Sectiondelivers complementary activities to restore security and reinforce the rule of law and equitable access to justice. The stabilization activities enable partners to technical and infrastructural support to justice actors to strengthen informal justice systems and frameworks and reduce impunity with regard to violence. Through support to development of police and prison services capacity, including construction of police posts in identified border and hotspot areas, partners contribute to tackle criminality, improve community security and strengthen early warning for preventive action.
RESILIENCE
Resilience actions are geared toward investing in community capacities and resources, promoting equality, agency, and selfreliance to meet their basic needs sustainably without reliance on external assistance or resorting to violence. Actions are designed to mitigate competition between communities over resources. Specifically, this entails fostering collaborative resource allocation, planning, and executing targeted interventions chosen by communities as having the greatest potential to reduce violent competition. Through these activities partners support communities to recover and/or rebuild lost assets and livelihoods at the same time enhancing interdependency between communities enabling them to experience increased social cohesion and exercise economic power in non-violent ways that lead to concrete improvements for the communities on a material level.
Livelihood interventions and community development activities are prioritised to ensure prevention of new catalytic incidents, with a focus on activities that enhance connection between communities, for instance through road linkages among rural communities, political and economic centres, smaller market towns, and among networks of cattle camps. Activities target unemployed and out of school South Sudanese youth who find themselves trapped at the centre of violent political competition and are highly vulnerable to recruitment into armed forces and militias. By increasing access to quality secondary education and adult learning, youth are provided skills and development opportunities as well as the means to participate in decision-making processes, becoming change agents for peacebuilding and improved social cohesion and resilience.
Under the umbrella of the WFP-led Community Violence Reduction (CVR) programme, the RSRTF Jonglei/GPAA Area Based Programme brings together four different consortiums with different technical expertise all working in close coordination to address drivers of violence between the Murle, Dinka, and Nuer communities.
