NRC in South Sudan

NRC's operation

Education

Our education programme supports displacement-affected children and youth with access to quality, safe and inclusive learning opportunities relevant to their psychosocial, emotional, and cognitive development and needs. Gender sensitivity, equity, and inclusion are key considerations guiding NRC’s programming. We provide:

• rapid education response in the first phase of an emergency because education is lifesaving and strengthens recovery and resilience and is prioritised by communities we work with
• ongoing support to schools and learners to ensure retention and progression through the formal education system, given the high number of out-of-school children in South Sudan
• supporting retention by creating inclusive and welcoming learning environments
• providing teaching and learning materials, dignity kits and recreational activities for learners
• offering support to teachers, constructing and furnishing accessible classrooms, and ensuring availability of clean water, latrines and handwashing stations in schools
• non-formal and flexible education to support children and youth who missed education due to conflict and displacement, helping them to catch up with their peers and transition into the formal education system and or livelihood pathways
• youth wellbeing through skills building: functional literacy/numeracy, vocational training, entrepreneurship, business management, community engagement, life skills education, and linking to income earning opportunities

Information, counselling and legal assistance (ICLA)

NRC’s specialised legal protection programme enhances displaced-affected communities’ ability to claim and enjoy their rights and access available legal remedies in proportion to need and according to Do No Harm principles, particularly on Housing, Land and Property (HLP), legal identity including civil documentation, legal stay and Employment Law and Procedures (ELP).

• HLP activities contribute to improved security of tenure, particularly for women, prevent unlawful eviction, support the amicable resolution of HLP disputes through collaborative dispute resolution methods and work towards the realisation of durable solutions by supporting returnees as well as internally displaced persons to obtain accurate information and take steps to secure their HLP assets in the areas of return.
• Through the LCD, obtaining nationality certificates and birth notifications and age assessments, communities have increased access to services such as education, health, and employment/livelihood opportunities.
• Interventions on Legal Stay support displaced or conflict-affected individuals in navigating obstacles related to legal and administrative processes for securing legal status. This includes assistance with refugee status determination, legal residency, and other immigration protection mechanisms.
• Through the ELP response, access to employment and/or the labour market is supported through facilitating access to work and supporting business registration/formalisation.

Livelihoods and food security

Our programme has three primary strategic objectives: rapid emergency response (Food Assistance), agricultural livelihoods (Productivity-Food), and business, employment, and entrepreneurship (Productivity Non-Food).

• We provide food assistance through rapid response modality to hard-to-reach areas impacted by conflict and natural disasters. This include vouchers, cash, in-kind support, or a combination of these methods, is tailored based on context and market assessments to meet food needs of displacement affected communities for 3-8 months, depending on their needs.
• We support farmers and fisherfolk by providing seeds, tools, fishing kits, and equipment, such as irrigation systems, to enhance their production and productivity. This support is complemented by tailored capacity-building initiatives. The assistance extends beyond agricultural production to encompass the entire value chain, including seed multiplication, support for farmer producers' groups or cooperatives in terms of formation, bulking, and marketing of their produce, as well as agricultural value chain support, including food preservation and processing.
• Non-food component includes business skills development and support for income generating activities. This includes start-up grants, enhancing youth employment opportunities through TVET programmes, promoting financial inclusion via Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), and connecting individuals to financial service providers, markets for their produce, agricultural inputs, and extension services.
• We promote community-led climate-smart agricultural practices such as fuel-efficient cooking stoves, drought-tolerant crop varieties, soil and water conservation practices, and innovative pilots such as lowland rice production in flood-prone areas.

Protection from violence

Our programmes strengthen community self-protection and assist individuals at heightened risk of violence, harm, coercion and deprivation. We:

• implement community-led protection risk assessments and support communities to develop civilian self-protection plans
• provide individual protection assistance, deliver psychosocial first aid, and facilitate access to essential services and information that support individuals and communities to prevent, mitigate, and respond to protection risks
• contribute to the systematic collection of protection data to analyse trends and inform effective programming and advocacy

Shelter and settlements

Our shelter staff:

• provide emergency shelter kits and relief items to meet immediate humanitarian needs
• provide communal shelter solutions through transitional or long-term shelter and settlement response
• construct temporary and semi-permanent learning spaces (classrooms) under the Education in Emergencies programme

Water, sanitation and hygiene promotion (WASH)

Our WASH projects provide displaced-affected people with:

• emergency safe drinking water through water treatment and water production
• provision of adequate and safe access to emergency sanitation and hygiene facilities to meet immediate humanitarian needs
• improve displaced-affected communities’ hygiene practices through provision of trainings, hygiene promotion campaigns and sessions, and hygiene kits distribution
• water systems and sanitation facilities at schools and communities, supporting communities with maintenance to ensure sustainability
• safe disposal of human waste and solid waste
• prevention of water- and waste-related diseases through the adoption of safe and hygienic practices

Advocacy and policy

NRC provides contextualised, comprehensive analyses of the context, and projections as well as scenarios to all humanitarian actors, donors, and diplomatic missions in South Sudan to inform the humanitarian response. Through research and advocacy, we influence considerations around durable solutions, needs-based assistance, and implications of returns and refugee flows across the country. Our goal is to enhance service delivery and protection for the displacement-affected population. Advocacy is conducted both publicly, through media engagement and external position papers, and privately, through targeted meetings and briefings with relevant interlocutors.

Cash and markets

NRC selects the most appropriate response modality informed by robust analysis of the context. We promote cash and markets-based interventions, and mainstream cash, voucher, and market-based approaches, supported by sound market and protection analysis. Where appropriate to the context, cash transfers are used as the default modality to reduce aid dependency and restore dignity of displacement-affected populations while supporting market systems. Such responses are coordinated with the Cash Working Group. In cases of undeveloped markets, as is the case in most parts of the country, NRC incorporates activities in its programmes to support market functionality, e.g. seed fairs.

Emergency response

NRC pools capacities on Emergency Rapid Response Mechanism (ERRM) in South Sudan, through the NRC-led ERRM Consortium and with key stakeholders, for coordinated preparedness and lifesaving integrated support to people affected by sudden-onset disasters including conflict and flooding. This is guided by the ERRM Framework providing standards for the rapidity, efficiency, and effectiveness of first-line responses. NRC's emergency response is integrated with longer-term interventions aimed at self-reliance and durable solutions in areas of return or (re-)settlement.

Humanitarian coordination 

NRC is recognised for its proactive leadership in coordination across South Sudan, representing INGOs on the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), NGO Forum Steering Committee, and Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG). NRC co-leads the Protection, WASH, and Shelter/NFI clusters and serves as the HLP Area of Responsibility lead within the Protection Cluster. We are also actively involved in the LFS cluster, the Cash Working Group, the Access Working Group, the Durable Solutions Working Group and the Advisory Group on Solutions. By collaborating with other humanitarian actors, NRC aims to improve operational efficiency, address access challenges and secure additional funding.

Localisation

NRC leverages partnerships and collaboration with the private sector, civil society, and community-based institutions on programme delivery, advocacy and influencing. In 2023, NRC has signed implementation agreements with eight local partners for interventions in emergency response, education and durable solutions. Meaningful collaboration with the government, that embeds knowledge and strengthens service delivery systems, is attained at relevant levels. Since 2020, with financial support from Education Cannot Wait (ECW), NRC has seconded staff to the Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP) Secretariat housed within the Ministry of Education.