Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

The interventions of humanitarian organisations that participate in OCHA-led coordination mechanisms are well coordinated and based on robust and timely evidence. Advocacy for humanitarian access, the respect of humanitarian principles and for the protection of people in need is effective.

Expected results

R1. Improved coordination and support to joint needs assessments, joint strategic response planning, and joint monitoring and reporting of collective results.

R2. Reinforced operational support to humanitarian leaders, with enhanced quality of contextual analysis, improved quality and timeliness of information, and strengthened context-specific coordination mechanisms.

R3. Improved engagement across the humanitarian system around the protection of affected people, with improved protection coordination, sustained analysis, monitoring and advocacy on humanitarian access, and system readiness.

Target group / Beneficiaries

OCHA is not an operational agency; therefore, it is not possible to quantify the number of people to be reached. OCHA is responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to humanitarian needs, therefore they are aiming at benefitting all 195 organisations (10 UN agencies, 70 international NGOs and 115 national NGOs) and the 6.6 million people targeted in 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for South Sudan. In addition, OCHA will continue closely working with organizations outside HRP that are delivering humanitarian assistance in South Sudan, including partners such as the Red Cross Movement, donor organizations and government.

The number indirect beneficiaries related to the Austrian funding should be proportionally based on the Austrian contribution towards the overall requirements of the 2021 South Sudan HRP; it is thus roughly 3,545 people.

Activities

R1A1. Convene, chair and minute all meetings and facilitate all processes of the ICCG to enhance synergies and maximize impact of the humanitarian response.

R1A2. Ensure that when new response requirements and/or competing priorities arise, collective decision are taken to prioritize the use of common services (i.e. UNHAS and Logistics Cluster services).

R2A1. Preparation and dissemination of context updates for Humanitarian Coordination Team (HCT) and Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG).

R2A2. Facilitate planning and undertaking of Initial Rapid Needs Assessments (IRNAs) in locations prioritised by Inter-Cluster Working Group (ICWG), including mobilization of inter-agency staff, liaison and briefing regarding security, coordination of logistical arrangements, and timely production and circulation of corresponding Reports.

R3A1. Convene and facilitate the access working group, maintaining a register of key strategic access issues and associated facts for the preparation of access snapshots and to inform high level engagement by the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC)/HCT.

R3A2. Undertake access negotiations with all parties to the conflict in order to facilitate humanitarian partners’ operations and their security in contested locations, advocating with relevant interlocutors to remove access constraints for safe, unhindered and immediate access, and support security of their operations.

R3A3. Ensuring protection, including from gender-based violence, is central to HC and HCT messaging, and is achieved by drafting relevant statements and key messages, and incorporating protection-related concerns in the HRP and information products.

R3A4. Convene regular meetings of the Civil Military Advisory Group (CMAG) as an advisory forum to humanitarian partners on best practice in relation to UN Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination that emphasizes the principles of separation and distinction between humanitarian and military activities, as well as OCHA participation and action related to Military and Civil Defense Assets (MCDA) meetings.

Context

Two years after the signing of the revitalized peace agreement, its implementation has not reduced the humanitarian needs of people. South Sudan remained a protection crisis in 2020. Lack of durable peace and limited investment in basic services are holding people back from stability and sustainable development. In 2020, communities were hit hard by the triple shock of intensified conflict and sub-national violence, a second consecutive year of major flooding, and the impacts of COVID-19. Some 1.6 million people remained internally displaced and another 2.2 million as refugees in the region. Insecurity, lack of basic services, and unresolved housing, land and property issues prevented people from returning home in large numbers. Overall food security worsened and some communities were facing catastrophic needs. Women and girls continued to face extreme levels of gender-based violence and psychosocial distress. People’s coping mechanisms weakened as a consequence of the cumulative shocks, leading families to adopt negative practices such as forced labor and child marriage. The economy continued to spiral downwards, pushing people to the brink, especially in urban areas. Access to essential services, including health care, education, water and sanitation, as well as protection and legal services, was already limited and much of the service infrastructure was damaged, destroyed or closed in 2020. Humanitarian assistance delivered to more than 6 million people kept many communities from falling into deeper need, however increased violence against aid workers and assets and operational interference prevented hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people from predictably accessing the support they needed. People’s physical and mental wellbeing, living standards and coping mechanisms are expected to further deteriorate in 2021 with some 8.3 million people are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance.