Partnerships to Put Communities at the Center of Resilience Programming in South Sudan

South Sudan is facing a dire humanitarian crisis. The December 2017 Food Security and Nutrition Monitoring bulletin noted that “… South Sudanese households are facing the worst food security situation since the Food Security and Nutrition Monitoring System began in 2010.” Year-to-year comparisons reveal alarming increases in vulnerability and food insecurity, despite the fact that donors spent nearly two billion dollars in 2017 to prevent a famine; the numbers of those vulnerable to famine in 2018 are projected to grow.

At the same time as the South Sudan crisis has worsened, the concept of resilience has taken on increasing importance both within USAID and the international donor community. USAID’s recent guidance on resilience states: “Resilience is a compelling concept for development assistance and humanitarian actors because it highlights the positive capacity to anticipate, prepare for, and recover from shocks and stressors to prevent households and communities from suffering long-term adverse consequences. Moreover, applying a resilience lens to program strategy and design has the potential to reduce humanitarian need and protect development gains for populations experiencing recurrent crises, as well as foster sustainable escapes from poverty.”

In response USAID/South Sudan has been laying the foundation for the creation of Partnerships for Resilience and Recovery. The Mission's Monitoring and Evaluation Support Project (MESP), managed by MSI, is supporting the initiative in terms of facilitating the partnerships and creating a CLA platform to provide evidence for joint learning and decision-making among donors and partners regarding what works, what doesn't, and rapid interventions when necessary.  Anticipated results include reduced vulnerability as measured by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), and increased resilience as measured by the Resilience Analysis Unit (RAU).