The Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility (CSRF) was established in 2016 to support the aid sector in South Sudan to be more conflict sensitive. We provide analysis, convene discussions, share learning, and support capacities to strengthen positive contributions to peace and reduce the risks of unintended harm. Together we are building a movement for better aid in South Sudan.
We believe that aid must not contribute to conflict or exacerbate existing tensions in South Sudan and should instead seek ways to contribute to peace.
Our integrity and approach are underpinned by the core values and principles that guide our work:
– Supporting local agency
– Inclusion
– Empowerment
– Solidarity
– Respect
– Transparency, safety and diversity
The CSRF in South Sudan was established after the 2013 and 2016 conflicts in South Sudan. The CSRF draws on decades of Saferworld and swisspeace’s experience in supporting aid actors in understanding local contexts and promoting conflict-sensitive aid.
Our team is composed of individuals with the right skills and experience in conflict sensitivity, ensuring that our approach is both knowledgeable and effective. We take pride in our balanced representation in terms of gender and diversity, including both experienced South Sudanese and international members.
This diversity enriches our perspectives and enhances our understanding of the local context. Each team member is deeply committed to the values of Inclusion, Diversity, Equality, Anti-racism and Solidarity, which guide our work and interactions. We can provide a more detailed description of our team’s expertise and values as needed. For more information on how we can support you please get in touch.
The facility is a public good for the aid community in South Sudan and works flexibly in partnership with teams and organisations from across the aid sector to support uptake of more conflict-sensitive approaches.
The work is funded with the generous support from the British, Dutch and Swiss Governments and the European Union and, in most cases, is provided free-of-charge to partners. It is delivered by a consortium of NGOs comprising Saferworld and swisspeace and hosted within the Saferworld South Sudan office (South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) Registration No. 088).
If you are interested in receiving support from or collaborating with the CSRF then please contact us.
How will the aid sector adapt during a fragile time of political transition for South Sudan? How do aid actors work within critical issues such as elections, census, constitution-making and security sector reform, alongside returns and resettlement and the associated risks of increased sub-national violence and a surge in gender-based violence – will all these present dilemmas for both humanitarian response, development planning and peacebuilding?
The CSRF wants to create spaces to convene and advise aid actors on how to apply conflict-sensitive ways to design aid – in ways that support an inclusive and peaceful transition, rather than perpetuating the current ‘political unsettlement’ or triggering competition to capture and direct the benefits of aid ahead of elections.
How can aid achieve more integrated and collective responses, building on lessons and good practice relating to resilience and humanitarian, development, peacebuilding (HDP) coherence?
The CSRF wants to build on its growing role as a trusted, impartial broker to encourage greater collaboration and coordination among humanitarian, development and peacebuilding actors.
The CSRF will facilitate learning from past and present initiatives through information-sharing, accompaniment and facilitating problem-solving discussions. The CSRF will contribute to a deeper understanding of what the ‘peace pillar’ of HDP coherence should look like in practice and avoid a ‘conflict-blind’ approach that compromises the perceived neutrality of the aid response at a critical moment.
How can the aid sector more effectively put South Sudanese at the centre of sustainable approaches to aid? While progress has been made towards meeting The Grand Bargain’s financing objectives in South Sudan, progress towards wider ‘localisation’ or locally-led responses have slowed, and decisions regarding aid continue to be made without meaningful input from South Sudanese communities, particularly women, youth and other marginalised groups.
In this theme, the CSRF wants to build on its previous analyses and national NGO (NNGO) mentorship programme new ways of encouraging and institutionalising more active participation of South Sudanese, including women-led organisations, in decision-making processes. This will provide a counterbalance to top-down approaches, and it will support the wider aid sector to tailor efforts to support peace and development based on South Sudanese people’s perspectives and priorities.
How can aid adapt its response to the increasing pressures of the climate crisis and environmental management? In recent years, we have seen record levels of sustained flooding in South Sudan. These have been reflected in long-term displacement of entire communities and controversial debates about appropriate policy responses, such as dredging and resettlement. Each of these responses will have long-term consequences for livelihoods, settlement patterns and governance, which will shape local and potentially national conflict dynamics.
The CSRF wants to increase its advisory services and capacity support to the aid community to navigate these risks and to ensure aid supports locally led climate responses, which also recognise and use indigenous knowledge. The relevance of this theme stretches into development models and how they interact with conservation, land and natural resource (including oil) management.
