As aid actors in South Sudan, most of us believe in and can see the value of what we’re doing on a day-to-day basis. We can see the positive impact of aid on people’s lives.
But we also wonder in quiet, dark moments what the sum total of our impact is. Aid has been delivered here for decades, so why are things still so bad? Do we play a role in that? And if so, what is it, and how can we do better? This work is challenging enough without having to grapple with recurrent bouts of cynicism and despair.
Designed and funded by a number of like minded donors in 2016, the Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility (CSRF) is an innovative pilot programme with a mandate to ask the tough questions and to challenge how aid is conceived and delivered in South Sudan.
We create safe spaces for frank discussion among donors, NGOs and UN agencies about the complexities of South Sudan’s conflict context, what they mean for aid, and what aid might mean for them.
We support aid actors to identify the unintended impacts – good and bad – of their programmes, and to think through ways to maximise those promoting peace and mitigate those doing harm.
The Better Aid in Conflict Blog is a brand new addition to the CSRF toolkit. It will grapple with the questions that need to be answered and the trade-offs that need to be considered for aid to do the most good and the least harm. And it will do it in regular quick reads – long enough to be useful, but short enough to fit into your schedule.
The Better Aid in Conflict Blog will help us extend our reach to frontline aid workers facing these challenges every day. It will also help us reach actors beyond South Sudan’s borders with relevant discussions, insights and learning.
Through the Better Aid in Conflict Blog, you’ll hear from different members of our team with different experiences and expertise from across the aid and peacebuilding sectors. We’ll also have guest bloggers, connecting you with those best placed – whether analysts, researchers or aid actors – to help you find practical solutions and approaches.
We’ll write about the issues aid actors raise with us. So turn to us in your quiet, dark moments, and let us know the conflict sensitivity questions that are keeping you up at night.
