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transcript
Community-Driven
Development Methods
for South Sudan:
Key Findings and Recommendations
January 31, 2018
Community meeting convened by CETs members
in Kalthok - Awerial.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 2
Acronyms
CET Community Engagement Team
CDD Community Driven Development
CLA Collaborating, Learning and Adapting
CSO Civil Society Organization (local)
FGD Focus Group Discussion
IDP Internally Displaced Person
IP Implementing Partner
KII Key Informant Interview
NGO Non-Governmental Organization (international)
PACE Participatory Action for Community Enhancement
PROPEL Promoting Resilience through Ongoing Participatory Engagement & Learning
SPLA Sudan People’s Liberation Army
SPLA-IO Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition
WUC Water User Committee
This document was produced by PROPEL-South Sudan, funded by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID). The document was authored by Joanna Springer and Patrick O’Mahony, with substantial input
from Emmanuel Gumbiri. Findings were informed by evidence collected by the PROPEL Monitoring Evaluation
Research and Learning (MERL) team and discussions with PROPEL field team and technical leads, and civil society
partners: Community Needs Initiative (CNI), Foundation for Youth Initiative (FYI), Humanitarian Development
Consortium (HDC) and Nurture South Sudan.
Disclaimer: The contents of this report are the responsibility of Global Communities and do not necessarily reflect the
views of USAID or the United States Government.
Group discussions during joint CET training in Juba
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 3
Contents
Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................................5
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 10
Production of this Document ..................................................................................................................... 12
Challenges to CDD in the South Sudan context ........................................................................................ 12
PROPEL’s CDD approach: PACE............................................................................................................. 15
Phases and steps of PACE implementation .............................................................................................. 18
PROPEL’s CDD Methods and Techniques ................................................................................................ 20
1. Engaging in a fragile context – Fostering trust for inclusive mobilization ........................................... 20
a. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 20
b. Key challenges to inclusive community mobilization and participation .......................................... 21
c. PACE CDD Methods .................................................................................................................... 22
d. Case story: How PACE techniques worked in practice through adaptive learning......................... 23
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques ............................................................................. 24
2. Mitigating community-based conflict – Fostering shared interests across divides to preclude potential
spoilers ..................................................................................................................................................... 25
a. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 25
b. Key challenges for “do no harm” due to on-going conflict ............................................................. 27
c. PACE CDD Methods .................................................................................................................... 27
d. Case stories: How PACE techniques worked in practice through adaptive learning ...................... 28
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques ............................................................................. 30
3. Incentives to invest – Trading off between process and projects for tangible gains ........................... 32
a. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 32
b. Key challenges to balancing process and product ........................................................................ 33
c. PACE CDD Methods .................................................................................................................... 35
d. Case story: How PACE techniques worked in practice through adaptive learning......................... 35
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques ............................................................................. 36
4. Downward accountability – Fostering incentives for local leaders based on community feedback .... 37
a. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 37
b. Key challenges to fostering responsive leadership structures ....................................................... 38
c. PACE CDD Methods .................................................................................................................... 38
d. Case story: How PACE techniques worked in practice through adaptive learning......................... 40
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques ............................................................................. 41
5. Wrestling for peace – Transforming traditional activities into peace-building through grassroots
leadership ................................................................................................................................................. 42
a. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 42
b. Key challenges to transforming conflict triggers to opportunities for peace-building ...................... 43
c. PACE CDD Methods .................................................................................................................... 43
d. Case story: A peace-building activity in application ....................................................................... 44
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 4
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques ............................................................................. 44
6. Overcoming barriers to women’s active participation prevents attrition ............................................. 45
a. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 45
b. Key challenges to ensure women’s participation influences decision-making ............................... 45
c. PACE CDD Methods .................................................................................................................... 46
d. Case story: How PACE techniques worked in practice through adaptive learning......................... 47
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques ............................................................................. 48
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 49
Works Cited .................................................................................................................................................. 50
CET update meeting in Jebel
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 5
Executive Summary
The USAID Promoting Resilience through Ongoing Participatory Engagement and Learning (PROPEL) program was
designed to foster social cohesion and resilience in targeted communities in Jonglei, Lakes, and Eastern and Central
Equatoria states in South Sudan. PROPEL provided material improvements in the lives of community members and at
the same time strengthened the communities’ capacity to drive their own development by harnessing their own
resources, leveraging other donor-funded programs, and advocating for additional support to implement projects that
addressed priority needs. These complementary results were achieved through a Community-Driven Development
(CDD) approach.
The purpose of this document is to share PROPEL’s findings that inform a unified CDD methodology for USAID
implementing partners in South Sudan (see PROPEL’s CDD Methodology for South Sudan1). This document is
intended to equip humanitarian and development practitioners with relevant techniques to achieve a do-no-harm
approach to implementation in South Sudan, one which varies according to the specific activities and contextual
dynamics. The CDD approach is inclusive, ensuring representation of all community segments; transparent
coordination with local leaders; targeted outreach to women; gender sensitization across the community to promote
women’s voices in decision-making; strategic communication and grievance redress mechanisms throughout project
implementation; and conflict-mitigation structures and capacity-building incorporated into project sustainability. What
sets a CDD program apart from other kinds of infrastructure improvement interventions or democracy-building efforts
is the range of identifiable impacts it has at the individual community level as well as at the regional or country levels.
The methods and techniques presented in this document have been tested in various contexts in South Sudan, and
have proven effective despite localized conflicts, as evidenced by the results of a 1,600-household survey across eight
of PROPEL’s original target communities at the end of the project (see PROPEL’s end-line report2). Findings are drawn
from lessons learned through PROPEL’s Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) approach, its quantitative
household survey samples at baseline (February-April 2016) and end-line (April-August 2017), and qualitative insight
into communities’ resilience capacities, prevailing social capital and conflict-mitigation strategies. Quantitative findings
revealed statistically significant improvements on indicators of community resilience capacity across rural communities
and IDP settlements, while challenges to CDD fueled by the escalating political tensions in Juba prevented positive
change in urban communities.
The CLA approach is critical to the goal of reducing costs and improving outcomes of interventions in South Sudan
because it results in the documentation of evidence-based methods. The integration of that learning into the design of
future projects, and the ongoing commitment of USAID-South Sudan to collecting, documenting and sharing lessons
learned will prevent costly mistakes in future. This document is organized by issue so that content can be readily
accessed, absorbed and applied by implementing partners who wish to improve the conflict-sensitivity, inclusiveness
and sustainability of their program, regardless of whether they are using a CDD approach.
PROPEL’s CDD Approach: PACE
PROPEL adapted Global Communities’ CDD Participatory Action for Community Enhancement (PACE) methodology
to the South Sudan context. CDD PACE is a dynamic process of building the capacity of local communities to mobilize
resources and address self-determined priority needs through participatory democratic practices. Given the conflict
context in which PACE was originally developed, its participatory approach explicitly promotes dialogue and
strengthens relations among community segments as they work together through Community Enhancement Teams
(CETs) to identify and prioritize development needs. CDD is important in a conflict-affected context because it builds
on existing forms of social capital to address challenges and strengthen leadership to effectively resolve localized
conflict.
1 The CDD Methodology for South Sudan is a PACE manual adapted for South Sudan based on PROPEL’s two years’ of piloting and ref ining the methodology
for the local context.
2 PROPEL’s end-line report discusses findings of a mixed-methods approach to indicators of community resilience and social capital outcomes of CDD in South
Sudan. It addresses a learning agenda designed to guide USAID in the design of future CDD projects in South Sudan. A report brief can be accessed on Global Communities’ website, pending review by the donor.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 6
The phases of PACE implementation are as follows:
1. Recruitment and CDD PACE Training of Community Mobilizers
Recruitment of Community Mobilizers
Community Mobilizer Training of Trainers in the CDD PACE Methodology
2. Community Engagement
Engage community and local government leaders to introduce the program
Community-wide meetings to introduce the program
3. CDD PACE Community Mapping
Household survey, focus group discussions and key informant interviews
Stakeholder and Conflict Analysis
Community Dashboard for sharing assessment data with target communities
4. Formation of PACE Community Enhancement Team (CET – the community decision-making body)
Form inclusive 11-15 member CET
CET signs MOU with program
Community Mobilizers train CET on its overall responsibilities and CDD PACE methodology modules
(training repeated during phase 5)
5. CET CDD planning and Project Cycle Management
CET, with community consensus, identifies and prioritizes CDD projects
CET, with community consensus, selects CDD projects and sustainability mechanisms
CDD project proposal development / approval / implementation launched
CDD Long-term Community Development Planning
Key findings
This document sheds light on techniques for programmatic success:
Effectively including marginalized groups in CDD programming is an effort—beyond merely ticking the
attendance box—towards establishing meaningful input and civic engagement;
The value of pacing project activities to ensure full community inclusion—while balancing community
expectations and donor requirements; and
Prioritizing community engagement strategies that strengthen cohesion and conflict-resolution.
1. Engaging in a fragile context
Research on effective engagement in fragile contexts shows the notion of justice or fairness to be the key factor to be
managed during development interventions. The realities of migration, so prevalent in Juba, force individuals who have
little exposure to other ethnic groups to interact although they may not share common goals or see a shared future 3.
The process of reaching out to marginalized groups and then convening public meetings to address all view points and
the range of expectations can be used to begin building social cohesion in diverse communities.
a. Key challenges
Cultural barriers to women and youth participation in community decision-making processes;
3 Marc, Alexandre et al, Social Dynamics and Fragility, 16.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 7
Hardship, sickness and insecurity present obstacles to mobilization;
Negative experiences with NGOs in the past; and
Risk of elite capture when local interlocutors divert benefits.
b. Recommended methods and techniques
Conduct a strategic review of the CDD project design at start-up. Fragile and conflict-affected contexts
are complex and volatile, with many changes bound to occur between project design and start-up. It is
therefore essential for the Implementing Partner (IP) and donor to thoroughly re-evaluate the CDD project
design, scope, target areas and goals prior to launch.
Establish early situational awareness through community mapping. Develop basic, user-friendly tools
to capture the most important data on targeted communities to equip program leadership with situational
awareness for informed programming (see PROPEL Community Profiles and Baseline Assessment Report).
Use CDD PACE methods to build trust & social capital during community engagement. The IP should
focus from the outset on building intra-community cohesion by providing targeted mentoring to traditionally
marginalized groups (e.g. women, youth, IDPs, ethnic minorities, disabled, etc.) to ensure their
representation and active participation in community-wide gatherings and decision-making.
2. Mitigating community-based conflict
In many conflict affected contexts in South Sudan, societal norms are challenged by a chaotic and changing
environment, and the government is unable or unwilling to provide a regulatory framework to facilitate the productive
exchange of resources. The types of semi-formal, community-based institutions that can be established or
strengthened through CDD PACE can strengthen the opportunities for reaching consensus to avoid and disputes.
a. Key challenges
Conflict at the national level interferes with CDD activities
Conflict at the local level complicates CDD programming
b. Recommended methods and techniques
Conduct a Participatory Stakeholder and Conflict Analysis. Conflict-sensitive CDD programming is
grounded in a clear understanding of the root causes and triggers of community conflict and how
interventions can either mitigate or exacerbate tensions. The CDD PACE stakeholder analysis tools should
be employed by trained personnel during the initial community engagement, and regularly updated to inform
subsequent programming. Conducting a participatory conflict risk analysis is also required.
Invest in the selection of trusted community leadership. Start by sharing and soliciting feedback from
key stakeholders and the community on the selection criteria for CET members, before disseminating the
finalized criteria across the community. CET members are then nominated, and an agreed-upon number
elected during a community-wide meeting.
CDD project sustainability mechanisms serve in dispute resolution. CDD projects may give rise to
community tensions both during and post-implementation, despite inclusive processes for selection and
implementation. Sustainability mechanisms such as Water User Committees (in the case of WASH
programming) and Parent-Teacher Associations (in the case of schools) serve an ongoing role in addressing
grievances and resolving disputes.
3. Incentives to invest
There is an inherent tension in CDD work between the urgency of real community needs and allowing the time for
community members to gather and cooperate in new and sometimes challenging ways. This tension is more
pronounced in a conflict-affected context. While the urgency of providing a peace dividend to support a peace
agreement is pressing, the work of bringing groups together can be even more fraught with potential conflict. One
strategy for dealing with this challenge is to select a relatively quick-implementation project that yields immediate and
tangible benefits to a wide swath of the local population.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 8
a. Key challenges
Urgent needs due to shocks and stressors demand immediate attention.
Conflict risks compete with livelihood needs in prioritization.
b. Recommended methods and techniques
Plan for and adapt to the tension between CDD process and tangible product. Implement a small-
scale Quick Impact Project (QIP) that sets a good example of the value of collective action. We recommend
building in a fast-track approval mechanism for QIPs (assuming certain basic criteria are met).
The types of Quick Impact Projects matter. PROPEL’s experience shows that small-scale infrastructure
projects (e.g. road rehabilitation, school or health clinic rehabilitation) implemented through cash-for-work
mechanisms are always in very high demand. Visible infrastructure that is seen to benefit large segments
of the community serves to motivate the community and serve as training grounds for potentially more
complex follow-on programming.
4. Downward accountability
Community mapping revealed that in multiple communities, some leaders had frequently monopolized or diverted
resources from NGO activities to benefit themselves or their close network. While preventing elite capture is important
to fostering community participation in CDD activities, fostering ownership and accountability among CET members is
crucial to the sustainability of the CET. The goal is for the community to trust the CET to advocate for them and oversee
the transparent and equitable distribution of resources by other NGOs or government initiatives in future.
a. Key challenges
Coordination with leaders is necessary, yet can tarnish an IP’s reputation for neutrality.
b. Recommended methods and techniques
Support maximum transparency in CDD information flow. IPs must provide maximum support to ensure
that CDD-related deliberations and decisions are conducted in transparent, open community forums, and
reach the widest possible audience through ongoing community-wide messaging.
Promote Community-based Monitoring. While the IP will conduct its own project monitoring and due
diligence, the community should be empowered to monitor their CDD programming. Community-based
monitoring also serves to hold community leaders accountable during CDD project implementation.
5. Wrestling for peace
Wrestling is a popular traditional activity that can serve as a vehicle for peaceful gatherings that also poses the risk of
a fresh outbreak of fighting. During community mapping in Awerial and Bor, wrestling was often mentioned as an
important occasion for fostering good relations between communities. However, wrestling is also a common trigger of
conflict where latent tensions exist across intra- or inter-community divides. Utilizing a bottom-up approach to organize
wrestling for peace activities leverages the popularity of wrestling for peace-building. The IP should set aside peace-
building funds within the program budget to quickly fund such opportunities.
a. Key challenges
Traditional wrestling aggravates conflicts and internal divides.
Wrestling is a traditional practice that forms part of communities’ heritage and is also popular.
b. Recommended methods and techniques
Establish a peace-building fund mechanism. This fund enables project managers to fast-track small and
timely peace-building grants. Peace-building fund sub-grantees should design interventions with multiple
components—both timely interventions and longer-term awareness raising and capacity building
elements—based on the input received through participatory conflict analysis.
Organize wrestling for peace events. PROPEL’s peace-building fund grantee, Nurture South Sudan,
brought a CDD approach to the activity by using a bottom-up approach. Nurture brought volunteer
“community interlocutors” and an inclusive set of local leaders (official, traditional, and church leaders)
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 9
together in order to lay the groundwork for the community to carry on the activity after the completion of the
grant.
6. Overcoming barriers to women’s active participation
At each stage of CDD PACE implementation in South Sudan, women face obstacles to full and active participation in
the CDD process. These obstacles are cultural and social, within households and at the community level.
a. Key challenges
Some ethnic groups regard women speaking in front of men as disrespectful.
Gender-based violence may create risks for women challenging norms.
Women may be excluded from information, education and skills training they need to participate.
b. Recommended methods and techniques
Mainstream gender consideration across all aspects of CDD programming. Put women’s inclusion,
participation and voice at the forefront of CDD programming in order to ensure CDD programming is
appropriate and sustainable; every aspect of CDD programming impacts, or is impacted by women in their
communities.
Women’s active participation begins with program recruitment and staffing. Program recruitment and
staffing must reflect the importance of women’s inclusion and participation in all aspects of CDD
programming. Recruit a senior gender manager and ensure women representation on field teams.
Use the following PACE techniques for boosting women participation: Set quotas for women’s
inclusion in community engagement and their representation on CDD decision-making bodies, as well as
attendance at community events. Enable and empower women to attend community events by providing
child care options, convening separate all-female gatherings, and preparing women to nudge traditional
customs and norms. Carry out gender sensitization workshops with both men and women to allow women
the space to challenge traditional norms and customs without fear of backlash.
Design and employ gender-specific M&E and Learning criteria. Specific gender-related M&E and
learning criteria will enable adaptive management that can continue to challenge assumptions and related
approaches concerning women’s inclusion and participation.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 10
Introduction
The USAID Promoting Resilience
through Ongoing Participatory
Engagement and Learning
(PROPEL) program was designed
to foster social cohesion and
resilience in targeted communities
in Jonglei, Lakes, and Eastern and
Central Equatoria states in South
Sudan. PROPEL provided material
improvements in the lives of
community members and at the
same time strengthened the
community’s capacity to drive their
own development by harnessing
their own resources, leveraging
other donor-funded programs, and advocating for additional support to implement projects addressing priority needs.
These complementary results were achieved through a Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach. The
purpose of this document is to share PROPEL’s findings that inform a unified CDD methodology for USAID
implementing partners in South Sudan (see PROPEL’s CDD Methodology for South Sudan).
PROPEL began in September 2015 and ended in January 2018. Implemented by Global Communities and Catholic
Relief Services (CRS), the program’s primary objective was to foster social cohesion and capacity for collective action
across internal community divides. PROPEL assisted selected communities in achieving these results, and generally
worked to improve their capability to address their own development and conflict-related challenges.
From February to April 2016, PROPEL gathered baseline data on existing levels of social cohesion and capacity for
collective action, and carried out community mapping, including an assessment of risks and community assets.
PROPEL prepared community profiles for 16 communities across the former counties of Magwi, Duk, Bor, Awerial and
Juba4. These activities brought to light key features and threats to community resilience, following the nuances of a
situation fraught with local-level grievance and a collective sense of injustice around the management and allocation
of foreign assistance. This exercise further revealed a sense of disillusionment with NGOs’ frequent failure to follow
through on promises.
The resulting community profiles documented anticipated local challenges to effective programming:
Diverse yet densely populated communities demonstrating multilayered, interlocking development needs;
Low levels of community organization;
A military presence; and
Pastoral regions inhabited by conflicting, non-sedentary populations, and general difficulty accessing
remote and insecure locations.
At the same time, the baseline report and community profiles noted sources of resilience, including norms of mutual
support and cooperation within ethnic groups, as well as norms and values supportive of transparent and inclusive
decision-making.
Due to insecurity and changes in the national situation over the life of the project, PROPEL’s overall implementation
was predominantly informed by findings in eight of the original 16 target communities—and only in Awerial, Bor and
Juba counties (see map below of target community locations).
4 County lines were redrawn following the creation of 28 states in November 2015, but boundaries and names were contested during the period of community mapping, leading PROPEL to keep the county names and borders from October 2015 for research and documentation.
Juba End-line
enumerator training
PROPEL’s implementation strategy took these findings into account. The program’s CDD approach empowered
communities to identify and prioritize their own development projects through a transparent and inclusive decision-
making process emphasizing local ownership: Participatory Action for Community Enhancement (PACE). By
helping communities improve their capacity to work together to overcome challenges, PROPEL sought to lessen the
likelihood of new conflicts emerging following environmental, political or economic shocks. Led by representative,
community-selected committees called Community Enhancement Teams (CETs) following intensive community-wide
deliberations to determine and prioritize needs (notably access to basic services such as clean water, functioning
primary schools and roads), each PROPEL community selected projects for implementation5. The PACE process is
explained in full further below in this section.
End-line findings6 from a 1,600-household survey in eight of the original target communities supplemented by baseline-
to-end-line and inter-group comparative qualitative analysis, provided supporting evidence for the importance of
PROPEL’s CDD approach. Findings showed strong demand for a community-led approach, awareness of the
community’s role in driving sustainability, and supporting evidence that CDD is suitable for conflict-sensitive
engagement. Quantitative findings revealed statistically significant improvements on indicators of community resilience
capacity in rural and peri-urban communities and IDP settlements, although PROPEL did not achieve quantifiable
positive change in Juba’s urban communities. Community feedback provided valuable insights on what could be
adapted and improved for future CDD programming in South Sudan. Based on these findings, PROPEL’s PACE
methodology as adapted in-country demonstrates a tested CDD approach for strengthening community resilience.
PROPEL Counties and Clusters (end-line analysis)
County Cluster Agro-
pastoralist Urban
Peri-
urban
IDP-
settlements
Low
level of
services
Strong
NGO
presence
Ethnic
diversity
High
crime
rates
Inter-
ethnic
conflict
Juba Lologo &
Jebel
Awerial Mingkaman
& Kalthok
Awerial Hor &
Aguarkuoth
Bor Kolnyang &
Pariak
5 Implementing agencies have a role to play in educating their donor(s) on the importance of consultation and inclusion at all stages of programming in the
South Sudanese context. Project design can and should be tailored to build in opportunities for ground-truthing and adaptation against shifting conflict dynamics and emerging livelihood risks and opportunities—both post-award and at key stages of implementation.
6 These findings are detailed in the PROPEL end-line report, with key findings shared in this document as they relate to findings from PROPEL’s lessons
learned tracking methodology.
PROPEL communities formed four clusters, reflecting some key features of South Sudan
Agro-pastoralist communities (youth live in cattle camps, making service delivery challenging; conflict between
sub-clans and neighboring tribes is common);
Communities with IDP settlements (tensions between hosts and IDPs pose an obstacle to effective aid
implementation, especially as hosts and IDPs belong to different sub-tribes);
Communities with greater and lesser levels of government- and NGO-provided services such as police protection
and food security programs;
Urban communities with dense, ethnically diverse and frequently changing demographics; a public space
dominated by military presence and government institutions, yet plagued by high rates of crime and corruption.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 13
Challenges to CDD in the South Sudan Context
In 2017, South Sudan was listed as number one on the
Fragile States Index. The ongoing and worsening
humanitarian crisis strained the delivery of basic foods,
medical services, and protection to South Sudanese
civilians. The government lacked the capacity to deliver
basic services, including security. The country was
suffering from economic collapse and disruption of
trade, markets and cultivation activities due to violent
conflict. Plagued by a man-made famine during 2017,
over a third of the population had been displaced, while
in many areas humanitarian access remained restricted
due to insecurity. During the period of PROPEL
programming, political and conflict-related shocks
affected target communities. A timeline is provided
below, starting with the signing of the Agreement on the
Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan
(ARCISS) prior to PROPEL startup in September 2015.
In addition to these events, programmatic adjustments
throughout PROPEL’s implementation period reduced
its overall scope. PROPEL launched with the goal of
reaching 54 communities—three cohorts of 18
communities each—over three years. In November
2015, one year into implementation, USAID approved
a target reduction to 36 communities across two
cohorts (thereby extending the intervention period and
increasing the amount of CDD funding available to
each community).
In February 2016, USAID approved PROPEL’s
withdrawal from four communities in Pibor County due
to insecurity. Instead, PROPEL targeted two
communities in Bor. In June 2016, USAID informed
PROPEL of a 50% reduction in project funding, with the
effect of limiting activities to the 16 communities where
implementation was already underway. In October
2016, PROPEL was forced to withdraw from three
communities in Magwi County due to insecurity,
thereby reducing the number of program communities
to 13.
In January 2017, at USAID’s request, PROPEL
completed all remaining CDD programming and
withdrew shortly thereafter from communities in Magwi,
Duk and Awerial. Effective in May 2017, PROPEL
operated in four communities—two each in Juba and
Bor—for the remainder of the project.
Key challenges to a CDD approach in South Sudan
Ongoing and emerging conflict dynamics driven by
1) local struggles over access to resources, and 2)
national political maneuvering;
Tensions and fractures along tribe and sub-clan
lines threaten to stymie collaborative endeavors,
and restrict access to humanitarian services and
new resources;
Marginalization of women and youth manifests in
long-standing allocation of roles and
responsibilities among men and women, male and
female youth;
Trauma and ongoing threats to life and limb
hamper some citizens’ ability to engage in
community activities;
Challenges to mobilization and access to target
locations due to lack of roads and communication
infrastructure, as well as insecurity;
Skyrocketing inflation drives up food and fuel
prices, leading to severe shortages;
South Sudanese look to NGOs to provide reliable
services at the scale they need rather than placing
direct pressure on national or local leaders;
At the same time, there is a general mistrust of
NGOs alongside discontent with the type and
manner of projects provided (compounded by
survey fatigue and failed expectations); and
Corruption among local government, traditional
and military figures is rampant, leading local
leaders to attempt to divert or control new
resources and activities provided by NGOs.
PROPEL’s CDD approach: PACE
PROPEL adapted Global Communities’ Participatory Action for Community Enhancement (PACE) methodology to the South Sudan context.7 PACE is a dynamic process of building the capacity of local communities to mobilize resources and address self-determined priority needs through participatory democratic practices. In response to the conflict context in which the PACE methodology was originally developed, PACE’s participatory approach explicitly promoted dialogue and strengthened relations within communities as they worked together with Community Enhancement Teams (CETs) to identify and prioritize development needs.
What sets a CDD PACE-type program apart from other kinds of infrastructure improvement interventions or democracy-building efforts is the range of identifiable impacts it has at the individual community level as well as at the region or country levels. The primary impacts of a CDD PACE program include:
• Tangible improvements of local infrastructure and services;
• Strengthening local democracy and leadership;
• Establishment of transparent decision-making processes;
• Creation of a sense of community ownership;
• Increase in self-reliance;
• Broadening local economic opportunity; and
• Introduction of practical mechanisms for cooperation.
7 Please see PROPEL’s adapted PACE manual including four Training of Trainers workshop modules: CDD Methodology for South Sudan; Community
Engagement and Facilitation; Community stakeholder analysis; Community Project Cycle Management; and Community-Driven Development Planning.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 16
The five principles of PACE are as follows:
1. Inclusive participation to ensure women, youth, and other marginalized populations take part in and benefit
from CDD processes and outcomes;
2. Transparency in mitigating conflict, by ensuring community members understand how and why decisions were
reached;
3. Accountability to ensure stakeholders—contactors, sub-grantees, and local authorities—implement project
activities on behalf of, and are answerable to the community that selects them;
4. Ownership that promotes sustainability by ensuring community members take responsibility for the CDD
process and their projects; and
5. Empowerment to ensure community members have the confidence to actively participate in the CDD process
and believe their voices will be heard.
PROPEL’s CDD approach (PACE) combined four modalities: 1) an inclusive mobilization and engagement process that integrated participation from community members and the private sector, traditional leaders, and local government officials (as the political situation allowed); 2) grants that served as incentive and opportunities for engagement—including engagement of women, youth, IDPs, returnees, minorities and other marginalized populations as identified and defined through community engagement, stakeholder analysis and community mapping; 3) capacity-building of community leaders and local NGOs and CSOs to strengthen the knowledge and skills necessary for sustainable CDD; and 4) a Learning Network to share community profiles, case studies and programmatic findings pertaining to CDD in South Sudan and beyond. Taken in full, this approach integrated discussion and analysis, including of conflict dynamics and issues affecting men, women, youth, pastoralists and IDPs into the design, implementation and monitoring of CDD projects.
While PROPEL formed a separate CET rather than working within existing civil society groups, CETs drew from the latter groups, and balanced representation of marginalized groups where necessary. To set an inclusive development agenda and administer new resources accountably, CETs needed to include representatives of all segments of society including various constituencies and existing leadership structures—such as traditional leadership. The process of forming the CET was important for transparency and accountability, as community members provided input in the selection of CET members, and approved their candidacy. The process provided an opportunity for PROPEL to vet the level of trust and transparency of each potential CET member and pro-actively offset risks of corruption that have been known to stymie mobilization and community-wide engagement.
PACE represents a sustainable approach to CDD: consultation around project prioritization and selection is critical to sustainability, especially in a conflict environment. Communities participated in project design by completing a proposal that involved a 10% community voluntary contribution, an environmental assessment, and sustainability planning and training. PROPEL’s CDD approach also involved multiple techniques for risk mitigation. During community entry, community mapping techniques identified strengths, weaknesses, conflict triggers, resources, services and priority needs. Following community entry, PROPEL carried out participatory conflict analysis and internal stakeholder analysis to generate action plans to mitigate conflict-related risks, and worked with different interest groups to prevent spoilers.
CDD is important in a conflict-affected context because it builds on existing forms of social capital to address challenges
and strengthen leadership to effectively resolve localized conflict. CDD enhances a community’s capacity to mitigate
and resolve conflict, primarily through the following processes:
Community-led prioritization of conflict-triggers in project selection (i.e. access to water);
Conflict-sensitive project implementation (i.e. transparent selection of cash-for-work beneficiaries, including
members of different sub-clans in the same cash-for-work projects); and
Conflict-mitigation through sustainability mechanisms (i.e. Water User Committees trained and empowered
on convening meetings and adapting bylaws based on influxes of IDPs that may strain boreholes).
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 17
Key takeaways for implementing CDD in conflict settings (see PROPEL’s end-line report)
The primary impacts on CDD programming described by focus group participants are activity
interruptions due to insecurity at or traveling to the location, or out-migration. Conflict impacts
are in direct opposition to the goals of resilience-strengthening, primarily by interrupting
livelihood activities or displacing families from their sources of livelihood.
An implementing agency can attempt to mitigate these effects by supporting local leadership
and CSOs in leading peace-building initiatives, especially through the administration of a parallel
peace-building fund (as PROPEL did successfully in Mingkaman, Awerial). The peace-building
fund can be a responsive mechanism to mitigate and resolve conflicts.
For CDD implementers, the role of women and youth in security and conflict-resolution is also
an important consideration: to the extent youth are implicated in conflict through their dual role
providing security and instigating violence, CDD implementers need to enhance opportunities
for youth to interface productively with their leaders. They also need to ensure youth have a
sustained engagement in community decision-making to address their livelihood aspirations.
For women, the extent to which they have leadership roles in peacemaking (as in Bor, for
instance) is an indication of a community strength that will facilitate CDD. To the extent that
women are involved in conflict (through dowry-related disputes, for instance) yet not given a
voice in settling cases or establishing bylaws, CDD implementers must first consider how this
dynamic can be changed.
Mechanisms to mitigate local-level conflicts must be integrated into design and sustainability
measures for new development resources.
Leadership is critical to both conflict-resolution and community resilience; CDD makes an
important contribution through the function of the CET to strengthen and improve leaders’
capacity and accountability, in part by improving information flow to leaders and addressing
coordination problems between leaders.
When operating in a conflict-prone environment, implementers must consult regularly with field
staff to assess whether and how the CET is either involved in conflict-resolution, or can better
support local leaders to resolve conflict effectively.
Youth confidence in their representatives and direct engagement at each stage of community
decision-making is critical to improving internal conflict dynamics and mitigating new causes of
conflict.
Transparent project selection and design processes as well as inclusive processes for selecting
target beneficiaries are important for mitigating conflict once projects have been implemented
(or benefits provided to targeted individuals).
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 18
Phases and steps of PACE implementation
1. Recruitment and PACE Training of Community Mobilizers
Recruitment of community mobilizers
Community mobilizer Training-of-Trainers in PACE methodology
2. Community Engagement
Engage community and local government leaders to introduce the program
Community-wide meetings to introduce the program
3. PACE Community Mapping
Household survey, focus group discussions and key informant interviews
Stakeholder and Conflict Analysis
Community Dashboard for sharing assessment data with target communities
4. Formation of PACE Community Enhancement Team
Open, community selection of inclusive 11-15 member CETs
CET signs MOU with program
Community mobilizers train CET on responsibilities and PACE methodology modules (training
repeated during phase 5)
5. CET Planning and PACE Project Cycle Management
CET, with community consensus, identifies and prioritizes CDD projects
CET, with community consensus, selects CDD projects and sustainability mechanisms
CDD project proposal development / approval / implementation launched
CDD Long-term Community Development Planning
Community Accountability Training in Juba
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 19
PROPEL CDD projects
Production of this Document
This CDD methodology document reflects context-rich research findings structured around learning questions aligned
with USAID-South Sudan’s programmatic objectives. Findings are drawn from lessons learned through PROPEL’s
Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) approach, its quantitative household survey samples at baseline
(February-April 2016) and end-line (April-August 2017), and qualitative insight into communities’ resilience capacities,
existing forms of social capital and conflict-mitigation strategies. It is organized by issue so that content can be readily
accessed, absorbed and applied by implementing partners who do not intend to take a CDD approach, but nevertheless
wish to improve the conflict-sensitivity and inclusiveness of their approach with the goal of sustainability.
This document further sheds light on PROPEL’s techniques for the effective inclusion of marginalized groups (beyond
ticking the attendance box) to provide meaningful input and foster civic engagement; pacing project activities to ensure
inclusion while balancing community expectations and donor requirements; and, beyond the sustainability of
programming itself, the overall benefit of community engagement for strengthened cohesion and conflict resolution.
Preparation for this document began in Year 1 of the program with the design of research tools, as well as processes
for staff reflection and documenting programmatic learning. Some key stages of this preparation are mentioned below,
and can be further explored in more detail (link to brief). The South Sudan CDD Learning Network of USAID
Implementing Partners and CSO partners has been instrumental in preparing this document—notably through network
consultations and a final workshop in August 30, 2017 to discuss and gather input on PROPEL’s methods.
PROPEL’s community mapping informed adaptation of the PACE methodology, after triangulating quantitative and
qualitative baseline data with observational data, and a comprehensive review of secondary data. PROPEL’s 16
community dashboards across five counties—and five cluster community profiles—provided detailed
information on local levels of social cohesion, capacity for collective action, gender and youth dynamics, and any
8 A boma is the smallest administrative district in South Sudan, administered by traditional leaders (executive chiefs and sub -chiefs) who coordinate with
government administrators at the payam level. The payam falls under the county. In Juba, a boma is administered by a Quarter Council.
County Boma8 Project Implementation Period Borehole School
Rehab
Road
Rehab
Community
Center
Rehab
WASH
Awerial
Aguarkuoth Nov 2016 – March 2017 1 1
Hor March 2017 – April 2017 2
Mingkaman November 2016 – April 2017 1 1
Kalthok November 2016 – May 2017 2
Magwi Abara July 2016 – October 2016 2
Juba Jebel June 2016 – November 2017 6 1
Lologo October 2016 – November 2017 2 3 1
Duk
Patuenoi December 2016 – March 2017 1
Poktap November 2016 – February 2017 1
Dorok January 2016 – April 2017 1
Ayueldit January 2016 – April 2017 1
Bor Kolnyang December 2016 – September 2017 2 2
Pariak December 2016 – August 2017 1 1 1
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 20
conflict situations. Profiles foreground input and recommendations provided by community members during focus
groups and interviews.
PROPEL prepared a detailed baseline report on challenges and opportunities for building recovery with resilience
in South Sudanese communities.
PROPEL’s research arm included an end-line report on community resilience and social capital outcomes.
This started with a literature review of CDD outcomes, risks and opportunities in conflict settings. PROPEL’s
household survey across eight communities—using a stratified random sample of 1,644 households, as well as 37
focus group discussions and 40 key informant interviews—analyzed effects of its own CDD application on program
implementation in urban (Juba), settled (Bor), and agro-pastoralist and IDP (Awerial) contexts.
Results showed significant improvement in the settled, agro-pastoralist and IDP communities, i.e. statistically
significant increases on five indicators of resilience capacity. However, PROPEL did not achieve statistically
significant results in Juba due to multiple factors specific to the urban context (i.e. dense population, ethnic
diversity, multi-layered and interlocking service delivery needs), including an uptick in violent crime as well as land
confiscation.
PROPEL developed a lessons learned tracker to guide data collection regarding challenges, adaptive
programming decisions, and results of adaptive management. The tracker was structured following PROPEL’s six
learning questions and additionally its stages of PACE implementation. PROPEL’s Monitoring, Evaluation,
Research and Learning (MERL) team drew lessons learned from each field team on an ongoing basis (as access
would permit, given security and infrastructure-related challenges) to build an evidence base for this document.
PROPEL held a CDD workshop to review and discuss techniques and strategies learned for conflict-sensitive,
locally-driven community engagement programming in South Sudan. The workshop was attended by 12
participants, including members of HDC, USAID VISTAS, CRS, Nurture South Sudan (NSS), and FYI. Separate
meetings were carried out with World Bank Logoseed to compare approaches and lessons learned.
PROPEL’s CDD Methods and Techniques
1. Engaging in a Fragile Context – Fostering Trust for Inclusive Mobilization
a. Introduction
This section focuses on the importance of mobilization strategies targeted to vulnerable groups, and the importance of
putting in place mechanisms to prevent elite capture early during community engagement. The challenges of
mobilization in South Sudan should not be underestimated, due to the multiple shocks and stressors households cope
with daily, as well as decades of receiving humanitarian assistance with very little opportunity for consultation or
feedback. This section discusses PROPEL’s approach to mobilizing different demographics and facilitating community
meetings for maximum attendance and active participation.
Literature
Research on effective engagement in fragile contexts shows that the notion of justice or fairness is the key factor to be
managed during development interventions. Regardless of how well a project is designed, “groups differ in their
conceptions of fairness,” making the management of perceptions and expectations tantamount to a do no harm
approach9. In fact, a CDD approach is urgently needed due to challenges aid workers face in South Sudan related to
community dis-engagement, and perceptions of aid as biased toward different sides in localized conflicts. Challenges
related to access and the pervasive and complex nature of competing needs and identities make it difficult for aid
workers to prevent aid flows from fueling localized conflict. However, there are significant ramifications for a do no
harm approach of leaving these issues unmitigated. One solution to this problem is to empower a more representative
9 Marc, Alexandre et al, Societal Dynamics and Fragility: Engaging Societies in Responding to Fragile Situations (World Bank, 20 12), 9.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 21
and diverse set of local leaders to administer targeting and distribution, and to create channels and forums for
accountability to both address community perceptions and prevent opportunities for corruption.
The realities of migration, so prevalent in Juba, force individuals who have little exposure to other ethnic groups to
interact although they may not share common goals or see a shared future10. The process of reaching out to
marginalized groups and convening public meetings addressing a range of viewpoints and expectations can begin to
build social cohesion in diverse communities. Although time-consuming in the face of pressing needs, PROPEL data
shows that communities respect NGOs who take this approach. The broader research indicates the consequences of
failing to take this approach may exacerbate rather than mitigate these urgent needs if aid fuels conflict by aggravating
perceptions of bias, or targeting the most vulnerable fails due to capture by powerful groups.
Addressing these challenges head-on in an attempt to build social capital and trust to strengthen social cohesion is
key to program success and must begin with a clear understanding of the community dynamics through
community mapping (stakeholder/conflict) analysis in preparation for engagement and mobilization. Based on
this understanding, implementers must develop action plans and follow through on strategies to avoid
perceptions of bias, and elite capture of decision-making authority or project benefits. Failure to put these plans in
place may result at best in sparse and lack luster
community involvement (perpetuating a culture of
aid dependency), and in the worst case, may reignite
or spark new conflicts because targeting becomes a
matter of contention among community members.
PROPEL’s PACE methodology provided detailed
steps and tools to inculcate CDD principles of
empowering communities to lead inclusive and
participatory development programming in a
transparent and accountable way. The PACE
methodology emphasizes specific activities and
guidelines for ensuring inclusion, transparency and
accountability are embedded throughout
implementation. The methodology incorporates a
representative CET and open forums for community
consultation, ensuring that all groups’ views are
heard and respected through reached consensus, as
well as sharing project details with the entire
community. (Methods for preventing elite capture are
discussed in section 4 below.)
b. Key challenges to inclusive community mobilization and participation
i. Increasing participation of marginalized groups:
At the time of project start-up, women and female youth in some rural communities were expected to cook
and fetch water for community meetings, and not to speak in front of men. In most communities, female
youth did not have an opportunity to provide input on community decisions; however, women were
represented at meetings by a woman leader.
Male youth in some rural communities were not included in decisions, except when needed to provide
defense to the community; however, their demands and needs were looked after in part because of their
vital role to community security.
10 Marc, Alexandre et al, Social Dynamics and Fragility, 16.
Evidence from end-line findings
Key informants across communities, with few exceptions,
urged NGOs to follow a community-led process. A few
examples are as follows:
Female thought leader in Awerial: “We need NGOs to ask
our needs instead of NGOs suggesting for us what they think
will benefit our community.”
Female thought leader in Bor: An “NGO approach where
community needs are identified through community
members will be the most beneficial to my community…”
Female IDP in Juba: NGOs should involve “the community
in needs assessment and in the implementation as PROPEL
did because this encourages the community to participate
actively since it's their choice, voice and service and hence
sustainability of the project.”
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 22
Women and female youth had an important role to play in conflict/community defense, as they fetched water
and cooked for the male youth while they were fighting. Further, women and female youth composed songs
that might have triggered or fueled conflict.
Community members had to be assured of some return on their time and effort, should they attend meetings:
insecurity, risk of leaving their children and cattle unattended, sickness, hunger (that makes them weak),
and trying to find food for their families all made it difficult for them to attend meetings without receiving per
diem.
Particularly in Juba, where people were engaged in day-labor, competition with wage-earning activities may
have presented an obstacle, whereas in rural areas people faced logistical constraints such as insecurity
and long distances. Competing agricultural activities were another reason people may not have turned up.
Given these challenges, involving stakeholders in setting the time and agenda for meetings is crucial for
turnout.
Youth who were in cattle camps may not have had the opportunity to provide input on decisions, in contrast
to youth who lived in town centers in Mingkaman and Bor Town.
IDPs were easier to mobilize partly because they did not tend to have alternative livelihood activities, and
were centrally located in settlements. Further, they tended to have a more positive experience with NGOs
delivering on promises.
However, communities also had resilience capacities to build on:
Female youth in Lologo were active in community initiatives alongside male youth. Further, in some rural
communities female youth considered they had a pivotal role in community conflicts because they were
parties to or victims of elopement and early marriage (which can lead to adultery). In Awerial, female youth
demanded a more active role in decision-making since they were the primary victims and pawns in many
conflicts.
In Bor, women were representatives in peacemaking initiatives, and active with the church (in both Awerial
and Bor).
In Juba, Lologo women had been empowered to take matters to the local government regarding
displacement for a military fence—still, women’s groups were weakened and/or disbanded following the
July 2013 outbreak of violence.
ii. Overcoming initial distrust of NGOs and obstacles to participation: Negative experiences with NGOs
collecting data and failing to return with projects, or sharing the results of surveys that could be used with other
NGOs, or starting projects without completing them, make it challenging overall for new NGOs to mobilize people
for community meetings.
iii. Avoiding elite capture and perceptions of bias: NGOs selecting local interlocutors who divert benefits to
extended family networks, or dominate meetings and decision-making
c. PACE CDD Methods
i. Recruitment: Begins with the recruitment of qualified community mobilizers. Followed by a secondary recruitment
from within the community, ensuring the required ethnic and gender balance depending on community make-up.
Consultation with key local stakeholders during the recruitment process such as the RRC, County Commissioners,
etc., in managing expectations and preventing future obstructions during implementation.
ii. Training: Prepare to invest heavily in upfront training and preparation for engagement (see CDD Workshop 1:
CDD Facilitation Skills; CDD Workshop 2: Stakeholder Analysis). Intensive training of community mobilizers in
PACE methodology and modules, and conflict analysis—followed by repeated training.
iii. Community Entry and Mapping: This stage involves a baseline household survey, needs assessment, interviews
and focus groups with representatives of different community segments, as well as a participatory stakeholder
analysis / power analysis / conflict analysis. In the process, CDD implementers approach existing community-
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 23
based groups and leaders with experience in their communities to identify existing strengths and learn from these
individuals about lessons learned in the past, in tailoring a communication and outreach strategy.
iv. Community Mobilization: Reaching out to marginalized groups and then convening public meetings for
addressing all viewpoints and range of expectations existing helps build social cohesion in diverse communities.
In PROPEL, prior to mobilization all ethnicities and community-based groups existing in the community were
identified and reached with messaging about upcoming activities and information on meeting times, places and
agendas (and their respective feedback on the meeting times, venues and agendas). Targeted outreach included
invitations, in-person meetings and follow-up communication for all community segments. Open meetings
explaining the selection, roles and responsibilities of CET members built trust and addressed concerns or
perceived injustice or favoritism that could have led to tension and attrition.
v. CET Selection: Careful selection of community members to serve on the CET (particularly those representing
marginalized groups) and lead public consultations based on the analysis of community mapping data built
community trust in the CET and NGO. Empower local leaders (CET members) administered the process, and
created channels and forums for accountability so a wider set of community members could ensure their local
leaders followed through on their mandate (rather than succumbing to pressures from their network or seizing easy
opportunities for corruption). This ensured the CET structure did not disrupt or clash with existing community
structures, and incorporated existing structures into the CET so long as they met the selection criteria. The purpose
of putting in place an additional group when there may have be existing community structures was to form a group
focused on development priorities representing all segments of society, including CSOs and traditional leadership.
CET selection therefore built on and incorporated existing groups in order to generate linkages between leaders
and the community, creating forums and mechanisms for communication and accountability specifically related to
development.
d. Case story in Juba: How PACE techniques worked in practice through adaptive learning
Jebel and Lologo are among PROPEL’s target bomas where
communities are ethnically diverse, with newcomers from
other parts of the country entering nearby neighborhoods and
affecting the local dynamic during PROPEL’s period of
engagement. Partly resulting from the impacts of the 2013
and 2016 conflicts in Juba, and partly due to the ethnic
diversity of the communities, there are fewer community
groups active in these areas than in more rural communities
where PROPEL works. As a result, PROPEL faced
challenges in mobilizing the community due to mistrust of
local leaders, related to a lack of systems for accountability
and transparency. Trust within Juba communities has been
severely damaged through years of conflict, deprivation,
displacement, disease and economic collapse. The absence
of local government services exacerbates the competition
within communities over scarce resources, leading to social
fracturing and mistrust within and between communities and
local government.
During the stage of community mapping, the opportunity to
meet with individual representatives of marginalized groups
for stakeholder mapping, and discussions with focus groups
held with each interest group separately, yielded valuable
information about reasons behind poor turnout and lack of
trust. In response, before forming the CET, PROPEL held
meetings and forums to explain the CET member selection
criteria prior to selection, the roles and responsibilities of CET
members and clarify to everyone that their contributions were
Evidence from end-line findings - Juba
In Juba, representation was a crucial issue
emphasized by respondents when expressing their
thoughts on PROPEL’s approach. For instance,
women in Jebel noted: “The approach was very
good, first with the selection of CET group because
they were selected from all over the community.”
Female youth in Jebel stated, “We are so happy
about their approach because we were part of the
project and we wish that they could bring another
project which may involve us again.”
In contrast, male youth in Lologo complained that
the CET and beneficiaries were not selected “from
all the corners of Lologo.” This likely relates to the
approach PROPEL took of targeting only certain
neighborhoods in Lologo boma and highlights a
weakness in terms of the need for constant outreach
and communication and forums for heeding
community feedback. However, even male youth in
Lologo stated that PROPEL’s approach “is very
good,” and the other groups noted that it is good
because it involves the community, “especially
youth and women.”
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 24
voluntary. PROPEL also worked with CET members to ascertain past lessons learned during community mobilization,
and proactively address identified challenges. Further, all distributions and decision-making were done in the presence
of a quorum of community representatives, and information about all PROPEL resources was shared systematically
throughout the community.
The PACE approach brought about a sense of relief and reassurance because the community saw that very practical
measures were being taken to safeguard common interests. As a result, community members’ attendance at meetings
and cooperation with the PROPEL program increased. Marginalized groups expressed that they felt empowered to
participate actively in decision-making and benefits of the project. Increased participation following PROPEL’s
implementation of the guidelines and activities set in the PACE methodology indicates the process of ensuring
inclusion, transparency and accountability helped foster trust between community members. Their willingness to
participate increased, indicating their expectation that their time and opinion would be respected and help to ensure
that all community segments benefited from the project. It is important to note that mechanisms for ensuring community-
wide mobilization must be reinforced over the life of the project, and that CET membership must be reviewed
periodically.
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques: Fostering trust for inclusive CDD mobilization
in a fragile, conflict-affected context
Recommendation #1: Conduct a strategic review of the CDD project design at start-up
Fragile and conflict-affected contexts are complex and volatile, with many changes bound to occur between project
design and start-up. It is therefore essential for the Implementing Partner (IP) and donor to thoroughly re-evaluate the
CDD project design, scope, target areas and goals prior to launch, through a series of workshops involving key project
and mission and selected IP personnel. A thoughtful review of assumptions underlying project implementation will
enable informed, adaptive program management that is well worth the delay in launching activities.
Recommendation #2: Ensure key features of Collaborating, Learning and Adapting agenda are activated
In tandem with the strategic review, the IP should begin to integrate the CLA approach during start-up. The IP will need
to recruit key personnel with the requisite skills and orientation towards program learning and adaptive management,
and deliver training in CLA. Similarly, project management systems should be designed around the CLA agenda,
including tools and processes to support learning behaviors. The upfront investment in time and resources builds the
needed foundation for effective program learning and adaptive management. Close collaboration, openness and
flexibility among IP, donor and stakeholders, are also necessary to set expectations that allow for ongoing changes to
project work plans and budgets.
Recommendation #3: Establish early situational awareness through community mapping
PROPEL developed basic, user-friendly tools to capture the most important data on targeted communities to equip
program leadership with situational awareness for informed programming. For instance, the Community Dashboard
allowed IPs to capture and share community data with stakeholders. A participatory stakeholder analysis and, if
necessary, conflict analysis also yielded critical input for action planning. Community Mobilizers should be involved in
data collection, community mapping and analysis, and periodic updates to datasets. In the process of training and
execution in these tasks, field teams expand their knowledge and gain a more nuanced understanding of target
communities, equipping them to engage in evidence-based decision-making.
Recommendation #4: Use PACE steps to build trust and social capital during community engagement
The PACE interventions listed above provide the steps required for effective and inclusive community mobilization and
engagement. The result is greater trust between the IP and community, and strengthened social capital essential to
effective CDD programming. The IP should focus from the outset on building intra-community cohesion by providing
targeted mentoring to traditionally marginalized groups (e.g. women, youth, IDPs, ethnic minorities, disabled, etc.) to
ensure their representation and active participation in community-wide gatherings and decision-making.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 25
2. Mitigating community-based conflict – Fostering shared interests across
divides to preclude potential spoilers
a. Introduction
This section focuses on mitigating conflict that may arise due to competition over new resources created through CDD,
particularly in densely populated environments. At three stages of CDD—project selection, establishing sustainability
mechanisms, and local management of projects—conflict awareness needs to be catalyzed by an empowered CET.
The CET has an important role to play in creating space for discussion, fostering consensus and empowering parties
to the conflict to proactively address triggers. The techniques discussed below provide some guidance on taking a do-
no-harm approach in a context where the transfer of resources from humanitarian and development activities risk being
perceived to flow along ethnic lines11. The techniques presented here are geared for any type of international
assistance-related activity, even those unequipped to directly address causes of conflict.
Literature
The importance of putting in place dispute resolution mechanisms features prominently in CDD research, due to the
inherent tensions of collective activities (even beyond conflict-affected contexts). A World Bank survey study of CDD
interventions draws attention to the risk that CDD will attract conflict as individuals compete over opportunities; social
divides can also deepen, as new opportunities emerge for favoritism and nepotism to further entrench mistrust and
resentment12. Conversely, the same research indicates CDD has the potential to help address many of the grievances
11 A deeper analysis of localized conflict dynamics and potential for conflict-resolution is discussed in the PROPEL end-line report. Further, the adapted PACE
Manual provides guidance and activities geared towards intervening in a conflict -prone environment.
12 Wong, Susan, What have been the impacts of World Bank CDD programs? (World Bank 2012), 27.
Juba LCDP Validation & Feedback Meeting
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 26
that may exist due to imbalances in the local political economy13. In a conflict-affected context, a CDD approach is
crucial for mitigating perceptions of injustice and biased allocation of resources.
PACE emphasizes the value of transparency and
accountability precisely to provide informal structures
and regulatory mechanisms that are often lacking in a
fragile context. In many conflict affected contexts,
societal norms are challenged by a chaotic and changing
environment, and the government is unable or unwilling
to provide a regulatory framework to facilitate the
productive exchange of resources. The types of semi-
formal, community-based institutions that can be
established or strengthened through CDD, even in the
absence of functional formal institutions for regulating
access to resources, can strengthen opportunities for
reaching consensus to not only avoid but also solve
disputes14. Further, mechanisms like Water User
Committees play a crucial role in achieving consensus
around a set of rules—and additionally communicating
and clarifying those rules15. As a result, we can expect a
shift in societal norms as different groups respond to new
incentives for cooperative participation.
However, the initial stages of community mobilization lay
important groundwork for community capacity and, even
willingness to address disputes that may arise later. In
some cases, communities may not even be aware of
shared interests with other groups, as was the case with
IDPs and the host community in Awerial16. This is
particularly salient in situations of migration, where
groups of individuals are interacting for the first time and
may not share views about "where their community
should be headed17.”
The opportunity to engage in a facilitated negotiation process allows communities to recognize their own capacity to
cooperate for mutual benefit despite unresolved tensions. An important first step is to work with interest groups
separately before bringing them together to avoid spoilers or escalating a delicate situation.18 As individuals begin to
achieve results from collaboration, they are likely to be more willing to tackle complex or embedded issues19. Thus,
engagement over project selection and design can build the basis for more sustained peace-building engagement—
although this most often takes place over a longer duration than a typical development project would last20.
13 Wong, Impacts CDD, 27.
14 Kuehnast, Kathleen, Community-Driven Development in the Context of Conflict-Affected Countries: Challenges and Opportunities (World Bank, 2006), 26.
15 Kuehnast, Community-Driven Development, 25.
16 Marc, Alexandre et al, Societal Dynamics and Fragility: Engaging Societies in Responding to Fragile Situations (World Bank, 20 12), 15-16.
17 Marc, Alexandre et al, Societal Dynamics and Fragility, 16.
18 The PACE Toolkit: Volume 3: Managing PACE (Global Communities, 2016), 30.
19 The PACE Toolkit: Volume 3, 31.
20 Kuehnast, Community-Driven Development, 25.
Evidence from end-line findings - Awerial
Awerial improved significantly on perceptions of internal
and external conflict-resolution (8% increase and 15%
increase respectively as a percentage of baseline), as
opposed to Bor (no significant change or small negative
change), and Juba (significantly negative change for
internal conflict-resolution). These changes correspond
to results for each county on the three core resilience
indicators, highlighting the importance of conflict-
resolution for resilience.
Across bomas in Awerial, CETs served to instruct the
community on how to address problems and when to
take them to local authorities. When cases were brought
forward, local leaders improved coordination across
status (between junior and senior leaders) and
community boundaries (between IDP and host leaders).
A traditional leader in Mingkaman stated, “host
community paramount chiefs and IDPs’ chief share
responsibility when there is a verdict to be passed in the
community,” contributing to more peaceful outcomes.
Working with local leaders, CETs were described (in
Mingkaman) as ‘active leaders’ promoting fairness in
decision-making and ensuring the participation of all
community groups including women and IDPs. In Hor, a
traditional leader attributed positive change to the
“collective working relation among community leaders.”
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 27
b. Key challenges for “do no harm” due to on-going conflict
i. Conflict at the national level interfering with CDD activities
Mechanisms for internal and external conflict resolution are overburdened due to the extreme levels
of hardship amid a conflict-based economy and history of conflict that undergirds daily reality for South
Sudanese communities.
Conflict at a national level between the SPLA and the SPLA-IO, and various other allied factions,
directly affected Juba communities during the July 2016 conflict, as well as communities in Magwi. In
Magwi, the situation was so bad that PROPEL closed altogether as the majority of the population fled
from the fighting.
In Jebel, a vulnerable informal community was badly hit during the fighting in Juba, but most residents
remained. However, they witnessed an influx of IDP residents who began to access new boreholes
PROPEL had built.
Lologo community was affected by the building of a military fence that enclosed 2,000 households,
400 of them from Lologo 1 (a PROPEL neighborhood) alone. These households are now surrounded
by a wall and must pass out through a guarded gate to access food, drinking water, school or medical
care, and sources of livelihood.
ii. Conflict at the local level complicates PROPEL programming
Meanwhile, localized conflict ignited by the creation of 28 states and redrawing boundaries deeply
disrupted one of PROPEL’s communities in Bor, Kolnyang. Dispute over naming the new boma led to a
dispute between two ethnic clans who previously lived together in one location, leading to an out-migration
of well over 4,000 individuals to nearby bomas.
Further conflicts, frequently with a national dimension due to arms flowing to one side or another from
politicians based in Juba, afflicted several other bomas where PROPEL worked. Aliap communities in
Awerial were particularly frequently embroiled in cattle raids with neighboring Atuot communities, while in
Bor communities reported routinely facing cattle raids as well as child abduction.
Additional conflict dynamics are detailed in the end-line report. The main contours of conflict include cattle
raiding, elopement and other dowry-related disputes, as well as disputes related to murders or revenge
killing. Another common cause of conflict is fighting between cattle camp youth over grazing land or water
points, which breaks out following wrestling matches when one side does not want to concede losses, and
fighting among women and girls at water points where they wait in long queues.
Across PROPEL’s Juba neighborhoods, crime and sexual violence were serious problems.
Finally, in Mingkaman and Kalthok competition over NGO resources and jobs was a source of contention
between host and IDP communities.
c. PACE CDD Methods
“Do no harm” interventions and techniques used prior to programming:
i. Participatory Conflict Analysis: In conflict-prone and affected communities, building on information gleaned
from community mapping and other preparatory activities conducted prior to any CDD programming and
discussed under Issue #1 (esp. the PACE stakeholder analysis), it is essential to conduct a participatory
conflict analysis. Involve local leaders, including local government, traditional and other community leaders in
analyzing root causes and triggers of conflict, and the means of mitigating and managing conflict through jointly
defined strategies. Depending on the situation, this analysis can be carried out with interest groups separately
before bringing them together to discuss particular interventions in order to diffuse tensions and set the stage
for community consensus.
ii. Informed Selection of Decision-Makers: The results of the stakeholder and conflict analyses provide the
information needed for the community to identify whom to empower to represent their collective interests on
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 28
the CET, and whom to grant decision-making authority to address conflicts. These were individuals recognized
by the community as trustworthy leaders and decision-makers.
“Do no harm” interventions and techniques used during and post-programming:
iii. Training in Project Cycle Management: Even with careful preparation and planning of CDD programming,
tensions and conflicts arise during CDD program implementation which can negatively impact CDD project
sustainability. In mitigating potential conflict, PROPEL delivered intensive training in project cycle management
to CET members. This training empowered CETs to achieve consensus during project prioritization, selection
and implementation, and to communicate related decisions to the community (and receive community
feedback) in a transparent and accountable way. (See PROPEL CDD Workshop 3, “CDD Participatory
Project Cycle Management”.)
iv. Project Sustainability Planning: CDD is a sustainability-oriented approach: the consultation around project
prioritization and selection is critical to sustainability. Following community entry, the consultation process is
where PACE values and principles are engrained and lay a strong foundation for sustainability; consultations
are therefore equally important to the mechanisms put in place to sustain projects. Communities participate in
project design by completing a proposal with PROPEL guidance that involves 10% community voluntary
contribution, an environmental assessment, and sustainability planning and training.
v. Project Sustainability Management (Formation of Water User Committees): Prior to project
implementation, CETs design the mechanisms required to sustain any given CDD project. Having these
mechanisms in place that manage access to project resources during project implementation serve to mitigate
potential conflict. For example, as the community installs a water borehole, PROPEL works with the CET to
establish a representative and capable Water User Committee that puts in place rules and regulations
regarding borehole access, compiles a list of households that will access the borehole, negotiates and sets a
monthly water user fee to be paid by households, and selects community volunteers to be trained to serve as
hand-pump mechanics. The WUC, borehole custodians and volunteers conduct an awareness program to
ensure all community segments are informed about the by-laws. Having these mechanisms negotiated, widely
disseminated and in place prior to project completion ensures beneficiaries are informed of their roles and
responsibilities, and reduces the risk of disputes over access. Finally, it is important that the WUC be equipped
to identify and address small conflicts before they escalate. Among the tools at their disposal are meetings to
revisit and revise the by-laws to address new population-related pressures and challenges, proactively
informing new arrivals about the rules, and follow-up on collection of water user fees.
d. Case stories: How PACE techniques worked in practice through adaptive learning
Case story 1: Mingkaman
Mingkaman is the location of a well-established IDP settlement where NGOs provide food rations, medical services
and other vitally needed services accessed by both IDPs and members of the host community. PROPEL’s CDD
activities in Mingkaman engaged members of both the host community as well as IDPs generally hailing from the
greater Bor area in Jonglei. PROPEL saw a lot of diverging views during mobilization where IDPs tend to prioritize
income generating CDD projects, while the hosts preferred infrastructure development such as roads and school
rehabilitation projects. Baseline data revealed low levels of social cohesion and frequent conflicts between hosts and
IDPs, as well as suspicion of NGOs’ fairness vis-à-vis the two interest groups.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 29
In response, the PROPEL team carried out the initial
stages of project prioritization separately with hosts
and IDPs before bringing them together. They
directed community members toward CDD solutions
that would be acceptable to hosts and IDPs alike, so
that tension was defused rather than intensified.
Eventually, PROPEL formed a CET with membership
from both host and IDP communities.
Since its formation, the CET worked as a cohesive
unit in championing the development agenda of
Mingkaman boma. This is an indication that conflict-
sensitive community mobilization paved the way for
IDPs and hosts to reach consensus on priorities and
avert conflict triggers. For example, during the CDD
project identification process, and following self-
initiated deliberation, the Mingkaman CET returned to
PROPEL and requested a change to the project
selected due to conflict considerations: if the borehole
was drilled in the school yard, it could cause tensions
with neighboring villages over questions of access. The CET unanimously agreed a second borehole would be drilled
outside the school during the second round of CDD projects. Their decision indicates increased social cohesion and
capacity for collective action.
Case story 2: Jebel
Jebel is a largely informal settlement in dire lack of basic services. Lack of drinking water and household use
contributed to numerous problems, including the spread of infectious diseases and a rise in gender based violence.
PROPEL drilled one borehole and rehabilitated a second during the first-round of CDD projects. Due to the fact that
women are the primary users of boreholes, as well as the main parties to water-related conflicts, PROPEL ensured
that women were well-represented in the WUC. In Jebel, the positions of secretary, treasurer and deputy chairperson
were females, and women held seven out of 14 membership positions.
Late in 2016, new groups of IDPs
settled in the neighboring
communities of Mijiki and Wolyang
(areas outside PROPEL target
locations) and began accessing
water from the two boreholes in
Jebel, leading to a further strain on
resources and raising tensions
among women waiting in queues.
Early in 2017, PROPEL facilitated
local stakeholders to deliberate on
addressing tensions between the
communities. Stakeholders
identified the following challenges:
a) congestion, crowds and long
queues at the boreholes, mostly
women and girls; b) IDP women
visiting the boreholes frequently
because they had fewer containers
for water than the residents; c)
resistance to the payment of
Evidence from end-line findings - Awerial
PROPEL found statistically significant increases in two IDP-
settled bomas in Awerial, Mingkaman (11% of the baseline)
and Kalthok (16% of the baseline). The key driver of these
improvements that emerged from the qualitative data—was
improved relations between IDPs and host communities
(noted at baseline as a key challenge for CDD). This
improvement was driven by effective dispute resolution
through meetings and dialogue, improved coordination
between leaders and better attitudes between hosts and
IDPs more broadly. PROPEL activities such as wrestling for
peace were popular and reportedly helpful in reducing
tensions between host and IDP youth. The qualitative data
further indicates that although there were multiple disputes
over the previous year (2016-2017) between hosts and
IDPs, most of them had been dealt with effectively (although
not without some lingering grievances on the part of IDPs).
Jebel Water User Committee Meeting
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 30
subscription fees when original users saw that outsiders (from IDP settlements) were accessing the boreholes without
paying fees themselves. These challenges became dangerous due to the political overtones of the ethnic configuration
of the different communities.
A larger meeting was held with representatives from various interests in the three communities accessing the borehole.
Women represented more than 50% of the participants in the meeting and freely expressed their views on methods for
managing access to the boreholes to avoid conflict. Following the joint meeting, the community led by the CET took
multiple actions to adapt bylaws for access, and raise awareness of rules and regulations. The CET successfully
advocated for two additional boreholes as part of PROPEL’s second round CDD programming. These actions led to
an immediate reduction in conflict.
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques: Mitigating community-based conflict and
advancing a do-no-harm-approach
Recommendation #1: Conduct a Participatory Stakeholder and Conflict Analysis
Effective CDD programming is grounded in an awareness of the socio-political and economic power dynamics within
a community and an understanding of how outside interventions, such as CDD projects, will impact these dynamics.
Conflict-sensitive CDD programming in turn is based on a clear understanding of root causes and triggers of community
conflict, and how interventions can either mitigate or exacerbate tensions. The CDD PACE stakeholder analysis tools
should be employed by trained personnel during the initial community engagement, and regularly updated to inform
subsequent programming. Conducting a participatory conflict risk analysis is also required.
Recommendation #2: Invest in the selection of trusted community leadership
Start by sharing selection criteria for CET members with key stakeholders and the community for feedback, before
disseminating the finalized criteria across the community. CET members are then nominated and an agreed-upon
number elected during a community-wide meeting. The selection of community leaders who will serve as
representatives and intermediaries for CDD has a profound effect on conflict-sensitive programming. The membership
of the CDD decision-making body (the CET in the case of PROPEL) should be representative of various community
groups, including the marginalized and vulnerable. Criteria should include representatives’ ability to build trust across
community divides and promote intra-community cohesion. In addition, training members in conflict management and
mitigation will empower them to lead efforts at dispute-resolution and mitigate conflict or tensions.
Recommendation #3: CDD project sustainability mechanisms serve in dispute resolution
CDD projects may give rise to community tensions both during and post-implementation, despite inclusive processes
for selection and implementation. Sustainability mechanisms such as Water User Committees (in the case of WASH
programming) and Parent-Teacher Associations (in the case of schools) serve an ongoing role in addressing
grievances and resolving disputes. However, sustainability mechanisms alone are not adequate and may quickly
disband once the project ends due to recurrent shocks and stresses that weaken in social capital. Strengthening social
capital by linking informal networks with semi-formal community groups and traditional leadership structures from the
community-entry stage is critical to sustainability. Social networks are strengthened through the CET, community-wide
meetings, and the specific committees formed to maintain the projects resulting in enhanced participation and
accountability on behalf of the community at large.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 31
Water borehole drilling in South Sudan – important lessons
Access to clean water remains a top priority for local communities all over South Sudan. PROPEL’s targeted
communities consistently listed access to water as among their top CDD priorities. As a result, most of
PROPEL’s CDD projects were WASH-related. With the continuing importance of water boreholes for
humanitarian and development programming in South Sudan, it is useful to capture the key components of
successful and sustainable water borehole installation.
While well-known to implementing partners, these are not always practiced. The following three components
of water borehole/hand-pump installation are crucial to ensuring sustainability:
1. Technical expertise: Organizations intending to implement borehole drilling projects, especially those
intending to contract work out to drilling companies, must ensure they have the engineering expertise on
staff to be able to manage and oversee implementation. There are several key stages to a borehole project
that cannot be left to a contractor to determine, but require a dedicated professional on staff to oversee. For
example, the most common cause of water borehole break down is neglecting to confirm and certify the
following key steps in the process of installing a water borehole: drilling to the maximum well-depth
recommended in the survey report; installing appropriate casings based on soil samples; and conducting
pump testing based on a community’s demand for water and aquifer capacity. Not hiring a qualified,
experienced WASH engineer to oversee implementation remains one of the main causes for borehole project
failure.
2. Community engagement and ownership: Decisions on whether to implement a borehole and where to
drill the borehole are also important, as they directly impact the project’s success and overall sustainability.
These decisions should be taken by the community based on an inclusive and participatory approach to
community consultation in order to achieve consensus. In addition, as part of the IP’s due diligence, there
should be joint consultations between the community, IP and the relevant local government offices
(especially in urban settings) to verify that the land on which the borehole will be installed is not subject to
claim or dispute. These steps help to ensure that decisions are not politicized and avoid unnecessary
disputes and delays during and post-project implementation. Moreover, communities should contribute at
least 10% of the project cost in the form of local labor and materials. For example, PROPEL targeted
communities' contributed by constructing a durable perimeter fence around water boreholes to protect these
installations and afford the community a greater sense of ownership.
3. Sustainability mechanisms and associated training: The discussion surrounding the importance of
water borehole project sustainability must be part of the consultation phase prior to the community deciding
on whether to implement a borehole project. There are two core sustainability mechanisms: The WUC
responsible for governing the use and maintenance of a borehole; and trained community hand-pump
mechanics responsible for borehole repairs and maintenance. WUC members must be carefully selected
from among local residents and include those with a strong incentive to maintain the borehole, and who
command the respect of the community at large, as they will be responsible for managing access to the
borehole. WUC members should receive training to ensure they gain the knowledge and skills required to
manage the borehole in a sustainable manner. WUC member training in borehole governance, management
and maintenance, including water user fee collection and conflict resolution, should be conducted by skilled
and experienced WASH trainers of which there are a number in South Sudan. Training must also include
imparting knowledge to WUC members related to water tables, soil samples and the results of surveys, so
members are aware of the limits and capacity of borehole usage (especially during dry season), in order to
manage borehole access effectively. Part of the WUC training involves preparing standard operating
procedures for borehole management that WUC members debate within the community, whereupon they
are agreed and codified. Finally, in addition to an intensive 2 week introductory WUC training course, the IP
should, if time and resources permit, provide quarterly refresher training to the WUC. The investment in
follow-on training and mentoring can prove very cost-effective and significantly increases prospects for
sustainability.
i.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 32
3. Incentives to invest – Trading off between process and projects for tangible
gains
a. Introduction
The question of project ownership is a complex one with many aspects. Although monitoring and evaluation models
tend to assess ownership towards the end of the project, the issue must be addressed from the time of community
entry in order for CDD to succeed. There is inherent tension in CDD work between the urgency of real community
needs and allowing the time for community members to gather and cooperate in new and sometimes challenging ways.
This tension is more pronounced in a conflict-affected context. While the urgency of providing a peace dividend to
support a peace agreement is pressing, the work of bringing groups together can be even more fraught with potential
conflict. One strategy for dealing with this challenge is to select a relatively quick-implementation project that yields
immediate and tangible benefits to a wide swath of the local population. Although the consultation process may still
drag out, as soon as visible implementation begins community members are more likely to rally around the project, the
NGO and their local leaders. This approach is then to be followed up by another round of projects; as the community
gains more confidence and leaders grow in their skills, projects that yield visible benefits only in the longer term may
be selected.
There is an implicit competition between a strategy to select projects with the goal of incentivizing participation and
building trust, and an open-menu approach. However, immediate and short-term planning and decision-making may
be the best interim step to build up local leadership in preparation for preparing a long-term plan and putting in place
the social framework to sustain more complex projects with less visible rewards. PROPEL guided communities in a
selection process informed by household survey data and focus group activities on project prioritization carried out
separately with women and youth to encourage them to articulate their own priorities. The selection of short-term, quick
impact projects was also informed by conflict mapping data and discussion on the key drivers of conflict.
Literature
In a conflict-affected context, a longer time frame for CDD is necessary for the “participatory structures” that can help
rebuild social capital; the success of this aspect of CDD is crucial if the project is to help contribute to conflict recovery21.
In a situation such as the one faced by PROPEL, with limited time duration and frequent interruptions due to insecurity,
the best solution is to provide small scale, quick impact grants that “can offer CDD projects credibility”22. Fostering
trust in the NGO is vital in environments where trust is weak and the lack of social infrastructure discourages voluntary
activities.
Guiding the community to the selection of a highly visible, widely-benefiting project need not distort the community’s
deliberation and decision-making process. Research has shown that many projects end up with a similar list of
community priorities in highly vulnerable, conflict-affected contexts where basic needs have been neglected.23
Implementing a project that benefits the whole community avoids potential conflict factors involved in targeting, such
as would be required for providing tangible livelihood inputs, training, or expanded services24. In fact, social cohesion
or livelihoods projects are particularly vulnerable to elite capture because they are intangible and more difficult to
surveil. This suggests visible, infrastructure-type projects may also facilitate community oversight as well as motivate
participation25.
21 Kuehnast, Kathleen, Community-Driven Development in the Context of Conflict-Affected Countries: Challenges and Opportunities (World Bank, 2006), 17.
22 Kuehnast, Community-Driven Development, 18.
23 King, Elisabeth, A Critical Review of Community-Driven Development Programmes in Conflict-Affected Contexts (World Bank, 2013), 27-28.
24 King, A Critical Review, 26.
25 King, A Critical Review, 11.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 33
As PROPEL discovered, messaging over the life of the project is highly important for mitigating perceptions of bias or
favoritism. In other words, “the advice is to pay much more attention to deliberately planning the communication, based
on stakeholder analysis at all levels"26. For PROPEL, the effort to sustain dialogue and demonstrate transparency in
communicating with the leaders and sending messages to the community through CET members was crucial to getting
through the waiting stage without losing community trust and participation.
b. Key challenges to balancing process and product
i. Urgent needs due to shocks and stressors
The challenge of implementing CDD in South Sudan is dual: first, the delay between community entry and the
start of visible project implementation raises suspicion in the community and decreases willingness to attend
meetings, and commit time and resources to the project.
Second, the urgent and pressing needs of the community, as well as seasonality (such as the need for farming
and fishing inputs), require a quick turnaround between project selection and implementation. In addition to
conflict factors and persistent hunger, insecurity, lack of medical care, education facilities or personnel, water
shortages, lack of livelihood inputs, etc., the communities where PROPEL worked had also been afflicted by
multiple shocks and stressors.
26 King, A Critical Review, 29-30.
Evidence from end-line findings – Awerial and Bor
Awerial bomas increased significantly on capacity to work together to address challenges (14% increase as a
percentage of baseline). Awerial community members attributed this change to improved trust in leaders resulting
from stronger communication during community meetings. They also cited improved delegation of responsibility,
speed of reaching decisions and settling cases, forwarding issues to the correct authorities, mobilizing the
community for community projects and transparency of decision-making. Men in Aguarkuoth boma urged NGOs
to follow PROPEL’s approach by engaging engage community leaders, consulting with them and providing
feedback.
In contrast, the challenges facing Bor where there was a small decline on this indicator were due to external attacks
from neighboring tribes with whom there is a long history of conflict. The inability of local leaders to address and
resolve such disputes (other than through armed fighting) likely led to the decline on this indicator. When asked
how NGOs could best help people constructively overcome shared challenges, communities emphasized the need
for peace trainings and workshops to address these external stressors.
Mingkaman and Kalthok, two IDP-settled bomas in Awerial, emphasized the importance of peace-building training
for improving communities’ ability to work together and respond effectively to challenges. Participatory conflict
analysis activities, including all Awerial bomas and peace-building fund sub-grant activities, likely contributed to
the impressive change on this indicator in Awerial.
Evidence from end-line findings - Awerial
Between baseline and end-line, there is a notable change in the rates of use of various mechanisms for participation
in decision-making in Awerial County. Community members reported higher rates of voicing one’s opinion in a
group, at an open meeting and during voting. Hor boma reported an increase from roughly 20% to 50% (30
percentage points) on voting rates. Triangulating these results with qualitative data demonstrates how PACE
processes opened new venues for participation in decision-making.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 34
Most common shocks impacting normal living conditions (endline) by county
Awerial Juba Bor
Most common
shock
Crop failure due to drought
(74.1%)
Death or illness of household
member
(56.4)
Crop failure due to drought
(52.6%)
2nd most common
shock
Livestock died
(44.7%)
Theft of money
(44.8%)
Livestock died
(44.2%)
3rd most common
shock
Theft of livestock
(18.5%)
Victim of violent crime
(22.9%)
Crop failure due to disease or
pests
(32.9%)
ii. Mistrust of NGOs further impedes community engagement
In the face of numerous shocks and stressors, communities were reluctant to participate in PROPEL
consultations. In several communities, PROPEL faced relatively high levels of mistrust among community
members due to multiple experiences of NGOs collecting data but failing to return to implement a project, or
in some cases abandoning projects halfway finished.
Leaders and community members were anxious that working with PROPEL would be a repeat of that
experience and hesitated to attend meetings or contribute local resources. They clearly laid out the tangible
projects and products they expected to receive.
iii. Managing project prioritization based on conflict risks: Livelihood needs emerged clearly in both
quantitative and qualitative community mapping; however, PROPEL was not equipped to address this
priority with any tangible results given a short time frame and limited budget. The scale and engagement
period of PROPEL would have limited livelihood activities to skills building, or provision of inputs targeted
only to a sub-sector of the population. In addition, the risks in this type of targeting in a conflict-prone
environment were another reason PROPEL opted not to provide this type of assistance despite the high
priority placed by communities.
iv. In general, the trend in projects selected showed a
balance between conflict-related and development-
related needs and aspirations. On the one hand,
communities selected borehole drilling and
rehabilitation to address a shortage of water that was
fueling internal, localized conflict among community
members and immediate neighbors (since more violent
conflicts with neighboring communities, such as cattle
raiding and child abduction were beyond the scope of
PROPEL CDD projects). On the other hand,
communities selected projects that addressed their
development aspirations, long neglected, for health and
education, while also addressing urgent sanitation
needs through installed latrines. Projects also targeted
women and girls (i.e. girls’ schools and latrines that promoted women’s safety), while hygiene and
sanitation promotion was also targeted at women as the primary managers of household sanitation and
hygiene practices, as well as addressing the fact that women’s conflict over water points escalates quickly
to embroil families and neighbors in violent stand-offs.
Outstanding priority needs across all
urban and rural communities at the end
of project activities in 2017 remained
food rations (58%) and health services
(33%). Jebel and Lologo prioritized
schooling for children and water points.
Housing materials were important in Lologo
(near 30%), and farming tools for Kalthok
and Hor bomas (near 25%). Water points
were also important for Pariak and Kolnyang
(20-30%).
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 35
c. PACE CDD Methods
PACE interventions and techniques that help balance CDD process and product
Given that the consensus-building aspects of CDD require a significant time investment (see Issue #1), it can be a
challenge to sustain local residents’ interests in activities that are not producing immediate ‘tangible’ results that
improve the poor quality of their lives. The community participatory process is an end in itself in that it imparts
knowledge and builds capacities in leadership, inclusive development planning, conflict management and greater
gender equality. However, the community participation process is also a means to an end; it can facilitate the realization
of real, meaningful development and the provision of social services that help strengthen community resilience. Striking
a balance between delivering a process (and training) and assisting with tangible deliverables (e.g., projects, activities,
events) is an ongoing challenge for CDD, especially in fragile contexts like South Sudan. The following PACE
interventions employed before and during the CDD Project Cycle Management phase help address this challenge:
i. Participatory Project Cycle Management: Concrete, visible interventions that address real needs and make real
improvements in people’s lives lie at the core of the PACE methodology. PROPEL-funded projects served as both
a tangible outcome and as a catalyst, as well as an ongoing engagement platform for the participatory process,
and CETs and other community participants learned the processes by practicing them. The process of identifying
and prioritizing needs, designing interventions to address the highest priorities, and implementing projects is a
central component of PACE. The process is meant to be repeated multiple times to ensure its transfer to the CETs
and communities themselves. At any given time, different communities may be at various stages within this cycle
on their projects. It is essential that Community Mobilizers as well as communities understand the steps of this
process, and that each actor understands his/her role in the process. Over time, more and more of the project
cycle tasks devolve to the CET directly. This transfer of ownership will also take place at different speeds in
communities with diverse levels of capacity and resources.
ii. Ongoing PACE Training for Community Mobilizers: Well-trained, embedded Community Mobilizers are
essential to facilitate the process of inclusive, participatory CET deliberations on CDD project prioritization and
selection (see Issue #1 – investment in training). Skilled CMs ensure discussions are informed by data gleaned
from household surveys community mapping, stakeholder and conflict analyses. Moreover, they manage
community expectations by making CETs aware of the practical constraints associated with any project selection,
such as available funding, donor preferences, project complexity, and seasonal constraints, while still fostering
community ownership of the process.
iii. Prioritizing “Quick Wins”: The delay between community entry and the launch of CDD projects can run between
three to four months, depending on a variety of factors, not least the complexity of a target community’s social
dynamics. The type of project selected by communities therefore has important ramifications for the IP’s credibility
within the community. CMs assist CETs in understanding the importance of gaining traction by prioritizing and
selecting CDD projects that show quick and tangible impact by directly engaging and benefitting large numbers of
residents (e.g. a road rehabilitation project implemented using cash-for-work). By starting small, CETs and the
community can focus initially on achievable goals that provide immediate results and demonstrate the efficacy of
the PACE process. At the same time, simple, straightforward projects are less likely to be controversial, and are
less difficult to implement and oversee, allowing the CET to build their capacity gradually. After the first round of
projects, larger and/or more complex projects may be implemented. Newly formed CETs may tend to focus on the
most obvious and less controversial needs. With experience, however, CETs naturally begin to identify more
complex needs and seek means to address those needs. The progression from small, simple projects to larger,
more complex projects reflects a gradual increase in the capacity of communities to identify problems and
solutions, and implement projects accordingly.
d. Case story in Bor: How PACE techniques worked in practice through adaptive learning
In Bor, PROPEL realized the prioritization process and successive rounds of CDD projects needed to be carefully
managed due to mistrust and suspicion, aggravated by local conflict dynamics. The type of project selected by
communities had important ramifications for the perceptions of the community regarding the trustworthiness of an
NGO. These perceptions, in turn, affected the community’s willingness to contribute and participate in the project, and
eventually engender the community’s sense of project ownership and empowerment to maintain the project in future.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 36
The risk of being perceived as fueling local conflict
through targeting was also present, due to disputes
between sub-clans over naming that affected
PROPEL’s target community in Kolnyang.
PROPEL found that visible projects involving
infrastructure that benefit large segments of the
population were successful for garnering wide
participation, contribution and commitment to
maintaining the project. Mistrust and suspicion were
allayed as soon as communities saw the projects
under implementation, and were made aware of
efforts to ensure members of all sub-clans were
benefiting. A female CET member in Kolnyang stated,
“There is great change compared to before: these
days the turnout for meetings is very good compared to the start because the community has seen the good work of
PROPEL.” She concluded by saying PROPEL had also motivated most of the community members to think positively
about community participation in CDD projects.
Community members put in place concrete plans for further contributions to sustain and fully capacitate projects,
including contributing incentives for volunteer teachers, raising money for supplies such as chalk, preventing armed
forces from using school grounds, and opening a bank account for water user fees directed towards borehole
maintenance. During workshops and discussion, PROPEL teams noted that the communities understand the value of
consultation and consensus prior to implementing projects, and respect the fact that it is a time-consuming process.
Preliminary analysis of end-line data shows that all community segments are asking NGOs in future to take the
PROPEL approach in soliciting community input and addressing priority needs, rather than implementing a pre-planned
activity.
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques
Recommendation #1: Plan for and adapt to the tension between CDD process and tangible product
There is an inherent tension between the urgency to address community needs by delivering tangible projects and
engaging with the community in a deliberative, consultative process that builds reserves social capital by ensuring that
the CDD programming that is implemented meets the needs of the community and is sustainable. The initial community
mapping, mobilization, engagement and leadership training phase may take upwards of two to three months. These
activities lay a crucial foundation for successful CDD and should not be rushed. As a means of alleviating the tension
between CDD process and product, we recommend implementing a small-scale quick impact project (QIP) that sets a
good example of the value of collective action. We recommend building into the design with the donor a fast track
approval mechanism for QIPs assuming certain basic criteria are met.
Recommendation #2: Implement small-scale, quick impact projects (QIPs) as part of project launch
As a means of building trust and credibility between the IP and the community and advancing intra-community cohesion
during the initial community engagement phase, and providing incentives for communities to invest, we recommend
implementing QIPs that can be designed and approved quickly, and implemented in a short period of time. There is a
need to ensure these projects are conflict-sensitive and vetted based on preliminary community mapping data (or
stakeholder/conflict analysis), and selected based on a community-wide consensus.
Recommendation #3: The types of QIPs matter
PROPEL’s experience shows that small-scale infrastructure projects (e.g. road rehabilitation, school or health clinic
rehabilitation) implemented through cash-for-work mechanisms are always in very high demand in communities
throughout South Sudan; communities need basic access to services like water, roads, and schools or clinics. This
kind of visible infrastructure that is seen to benefit large segments of the community serves to motivate the community
and additionally as a useful training ground for more complex follow-on programming.
Evidence from end-line findings - Bor
In Pariak and Kolnyang, most groups urged an inclusive
approach to development. Male youth in Pariak stated:
“We would like PROPEL to continue with equal
representation of all segments of the community as this will
promote teamwork and unity to our community.” Men in
Pariak specified that PROPEL’s approach educates people
through inclusive meetings. In Kolnyang, men stated, “The
feedback we would like to give PROPEL is to appreciate
them because PROPEL provide unity and teamwork in
both men, women and youth; this is a great work, and it will
unite our community.”
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 37
4. Downwards Accountability – Fostering incentives for local leaders based on
community feedback
a. Introduction
The risk of what is known as “elite capture” by local leaders is pervasive in South Sudan. Community mapping revealed
that in multiple communities, some leaders had frequently monopolized or diverted resources from NGO activities to
benefit themselves or their close network. These experiences stood in contrast to leaders who worked with community
segment representatives to advocate for the needs of the community when facing a disaster, or to help NGOs or the
government target resources to the neediest households. PROPEL put in place a mechanism to discourage self -
interested stakeholders from joining the CET by not providing monetary or substantial in-kind incentives to CET
members, and even preventing family members of the CET from benefiting directly from cash-for-work activities.
Naturally, this approach is not comprehensive; however, PROPEL’s second method was to ensure open consultations
with quotas for representation of women, as well as youth representation. PROPEL refused to move forward on any
decision that was not reached through consensus except in the rare case where a decision must be taken through a
majority vote and marginalized groups are represented in that majority. More information on women’s particular role in
those decisions is discussed below; however, it is important to note that skillful facilitation was required to promote the
active participation and confidence of all sub-groups to voice concerns.
While preventing elite capture is important to fostering community participation in CDD activities, fostering ownership
and accountability among CET members is crucial to its sustainability. The goal is for the community to trust the CET
to advocate for them and oversee the transparent and equitable distribution of resources by other NGOs or government
initiatives in future. Learning by doing is key to fostering ownership and accountability among the CET members as
they interact directly with their community members and seek to gain approval and support. A productive feedback
cycle can begin when, through participating in meetings, consultations and forums with CET members, community
members come to expect transparency, openness and provided opportunities to address concerns. PROPEL found
CET members were motivated by gaining and keeping the approval, confidence and support of their fellow community
members.
Project visibility helps build the credibility of the CET and strengthen community investment and participation. PROPEL
found that highly visible projects also lead to support and recognition for the CET that can offset the lack of monetary
compensation. However, over time the community may need to exert pressure and make clear its expectations for
ongoing transparency to prevent CET members from also falling into the patterns of less effective leaders.
Literature
Information management is particularly important for preventing elite capture. A study across multiple fragile contexts
points out that "information can and should be plentiful, transparent, and widely shared"27. Similarly, PROPEL
strengthened the CET by making them the arbiters of information, and facilitating a stakeholder analysis to inform an
outreach plan to mitigate risks from powerful figures. The CET was further tasked with updating the community on all
decisions related to the management of the CDD project, while volunteer “community monitors” provide a productive
and structured opportunity to channel feedback and complaints to the CET.
PROPEL’s approach aimed to fill a shortcoming in CDD projects that focus on technical skills, but fail to put adequate
effort “toward strengthening soft skills such as relationship building, empowerment strategies, inclusion, and social
cohesion"28. In fact, in a chaotic situation of conflict and its aftermath, decision-making related to resource allocation
can become a virtual “black box”29. PROPEL’s monitoring and evaluation strategy focused on precisely this dynamic
by tracking and collecting lessons learned on the inclusive process used to reach decisions by consensus, and oversee
all aspects of project implementation. Effective mechanisms for addressing grievances and complaints are also
27 Kuehnast, Kathleen, Community-Driven Development in the Context of Conflict-Affected Countries: Challenges and Opportunities (World Bank, 2006), 25. 28 Kuehnast, Community-Driven Development, 18. 29 Wong, Susan, What have been the impacts of World Bank CDD programs? (World Bank 2012), viii.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 38
important for building the community’s trust in the NGO and the CET, which can in turn result in higher levels of
community contribution30. The example discussed below shows how a positive feedback loop between the community
and the voluntary leadership can increase responsiveness, while at the same time building community ownership over
the new resource (i.e. borehole or school, etc.).
b. Key challenges to fostering responsive leadership structures
i. Political challenges for neutral engagement
A significant challenge faced by CDD implementers in a fragile context is to determine the most effective way
to engage with existing leadership structures. In South Sudan, communities expect NGOs to coordinate with
their traditional leaders. Further, coordination with government officials is not only necessary but practical,
even in the current context where the expectation for future public support for CDD projects is nil.
However, there are also risks inherent in coordinating with both official and traditional leaders. Leadership may
be weak, ineffective, or worse yet, mistrusted or actively party to local conflict dynamics. PROPEL started
operations prior to the creation of 28 (later 32) states, and the ensuing claims and counter-claims by
neighboring payams and bomas regarding border lines.
Naming was an important feature of this administrative rejiggering, as well as the appointment of officials to
govern each district. In some communities where PROPEL originally planned to engage, the resistance to the
newly appointed official was so strong that the region has since descended into conflict.
Therefore, NGOs were between a rock and a hard place, required to get permission from newly appointed
officials, but at the same time not risk the appearance of taking one side in a highly polarized environment.
c. PACE CDD Methods
i. PACE Interventions / Techniques that identify and incentivize local leaders for CDD: Identification Of
Local Leaders: In preparation for CDD programming care must be taken to identify and select leaders who
are willing and able to serve on a representative decision-making body to further community driven
development (CET); who command the trust and respect of their communities (including traditional leaders,
government and church officials, women and youth leaders); are willing to serve their communities in a
voluntary and long-term capacity; embrace the participatory and inclusive nature of the process; and are willing
to dedicate time and energy to intensive knowledge and skills acquisition in CDD processes. Identifying these
individuals begins at the PACE community engagement and mapping stage, as CMs begin to interact and
learn about a target community. In addition, PACE household survey questionnaires are used to identify and
recommend potential leaders within the community.
30 Salomonsen, Andreas Tore Holst and Diachok, Myrtle Laura, Operations and Maintenance of Rural Infrastructure in Community -Driven Development and
Community-Based Projects (World Bank, 2015), 42.
Evidence from end-line findings – Awerial
Two communities in Awerial (Kalthok and Hor) achieved significant increases over baseline on an indicator of
participation in community decision-making. For instance, Hor’s baseline value was 10-15% below the project
average, yet made remarkable progress over the life of the project (an increase of 49% of the baseline value). Hor
respondents cited the most compelling improvements in community leadership including delegation of responsibility,
speed of reaching decisions and settling cases, forwarding issues to the correct authorities, mobilizing the
community for community projects, and decision-making transparency. A government official in Hor stated: “The
CET strengthened leadership through meetings which help the community to advise themselves on different issues.
Frequent community engagement activities made [the community] realize that meetings are important because they
share ideas and benefit from each other.” PROPEL’s strategy of putting in place a committee to connect community
members to existing leadership structures, while providing new means for passing feedback and information, helped
remedy some of the key obstacles to community resilience.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 39
ii. Formation Of CETs: CET members are selected by the community in open community forums facilitated by
CMs. Prior to their selection, CMs explain to the community the roles, responsibilities and expectations of the
CET and its members; that members serve in a voluntary capacity that the CET be representative of the whole
community, especially under-represented and marginalized groups such as women and youth; and that there
are mechanisms to hold CET members accountable. The community finally reaches consensus on the
appointment of 9-15 CET members (the odd number is to ensure a tie-breaking vote in rare case when
consensus is not attainable). All CET members sign an MOU with the project that codifies the duties of the
CET, as well as what the community can expect of the PROPEL project. The initial screening and transparent
selection of CET members serves to minimize the risk of elite capture and spoilers of the CDD process.
Although beyond the scope of PROPEL’s timeline with the communities, systems must be put in place for the
regular review of CET membership and nomination of new members to the CET.
iii. Incentivizing CET Members: CET members benefit from ongoing and extensive training in the core PACE
curriculum, delivered by CMs: Facilitation Skills, Project Cycle Management and Long-Term Community
Development Planning. CMs also empower and motivate CET members by providing coaching on PACE
processes and ongoing transfer of knowledge and skills in leadership and management to CET members. CET
members assume increasing ownership of the CDD decision-making process by leading the CDD project
prioritization, selection and implementation process and overseeing implementation of project sustainability
plans; CET members also benefit from being equipped with the basic tools required to continue to serve and
lead as CDD representatives for their communities post-PROPEL. These tools include Community
Dashboards and Long-term Community Development Plans that CET members can use to advocate on behalf
of their community with donors and NGOs and their local government. In South Sudan, some form of tangible
incentive is routinely expected. It is important to address these expectations head on for two reasons: first,
providing monetary incentives to the CET members may result in them being seen primarily as PROPEL
employees or representatives rather than as representatives of their own communities; second, that monetary
incentives will not continue past the end of PROPEL, leaving little in the way of sustainable leadership.
However, some tangible incentives are important to facilitate work, especially early on: these can include
airtime for mobilizing the community for meetings, and gum boots or bicycles for easy movement.
iv. Long-Term Community Development Planning: Long-term Community Development Plans (LCDP) are
designed to allow communities to identify their long-term needs, consider possible solutions and identify
realistic goals. These plans encourage CETs to conceptualize the long-term development of their communities
and to identify the steps that need to be taken to realize those goals. PROPEL-supported CETs began to
design their LCDP after initial "confidence building" projects were implemented. This was designed to balance
the projects needed for credibility and trust between the community and the PROPEL, with the participatory
process of PACE that we wanted communities to take ownership of over time. The creation of the LCDP is
part of a process that requires CET outreach with their community and with other stakeholders. The process
begins with a training workshop on preparing a long-term action plan (see CDD Workshop 4: CDD Long-term
Community Development Planning). Once residents began to realize the real outcomes and effects of
collaborative action-planning, communities become further invested in the process as a means of fostering
development and managing increasingly more difficult, long-standing problems.
PACE Interventions / Techniques that engage the wider community to interface with the CET:
v. Communication & Messaging: CDD project ownership and sustainability begins with ensuring that the CDD
project prioritization and selection process is open and transparent. All CET decisions must be taken by
consensus to avoid more powerful members of the CET from dominating decisions, and potentially
concentrating resources and opportunities in ways favorable to their own position or networks. When a
consensus is mandatory, all concerns are voiced and addressed, and decisions reflect the interests of
marginalized groups represented in the CET (e.g. women and youth). In situations where the possibility of one
powerful figure or group unduly influencing CET decisions, PROPEL organized separate meetings for
marginalized groups prior to community wide meetings especially because such groups (women) may not
readily voice their concerns in wide-community meetings. Another technique is to provide turns for each
section of the community to speak instead of relying on individuals requesting the opportunity to speak. CMs
assist CETs in communicating the outcomes of their deliberations to the wider community in open community
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 40
meetings. Regularly scheduled and open community-wide meetings that inform residents of the rationale for
CDD project prioritization and selection, and that solicit input and feedback, are an effective means of
sustaining community engagement.
vi. Community Resource Mobilization: The PACE methodology requires a direct community contribution to
community-prioritized activities and projects. PROPEL required a community contribution valued at 10% of the
overall project budget to reflect a concrete commitment to the project on the part of the community, and give
communities a real stake in the success and sustainability of projects. For example, on PROPEL-funded
projects communities contributed their voluntary labor and materials to construct the protective fencing around
water boreholes. As communities contributed their own resources, they demonstrated a greater sense of
ownership of activities and projects (and the decision-making process) and were more likely to participate in
implementation and ongoing maintenance. The CET is responsible for mobilizing community contributions and
in the process they establish links of accountability through interaction with community members, resulting in
incentives related to community approval and support rather than personal gain.
vii. Sustainability Planning: Long-lasting positive change is the overall goal of the PACE approach, and the
CET’s capacity to lead that change past the end of the project is critical to achieving target outcomes . PACE
processes are designed to incorporate sustainability into both tangible and intangible outcomes. Sustainability
planning is an important opportunity for the CETs to gain experience working together to put in place concrete
project management strategies, as well as engage with the broader community and stakeholder groups and
establish future channels for accountability. Sustainability plans were developed for individual community
projects so that communities could identify means for maintaining projects once they were completed (see
WUC, PTA, etc.) From the start of project planning, activities were conducted with the “exit strategy” in mind.
Many decisions throughout the life of a program can affect the potential for processes and structures to
continue after the donor-funding ends. These include: the manner and extent to which CETs are formalized;
the link between CETs and local government institutions at the boma, payam and county level; residents’
perception of the effectiveness of the CET and the projects implemented; the linking of CETs to other donor
IPs; and the level of independence and responsibility handed to the CETs over the course of the program. For
example, PROPEL CM’s assisted CETs with their sustainability planning by facilitating partnerships with other
IPs, e.g. WFP for food deliveries to rehabilitated schools in Bor; OXFAM and EUAID to provide stipends to
teachers at PROPEL-rehabilitated schools in Bor and Juba; access to the WASH cluster in Bor to request
spare parts for water boreholes; and linking the Lologo CET with VISTAS to plan a new WASH intervention as
well as broader strategic conversations between the PROPEL Juba team and VISTAS Juba program staff.
viii. Community Monitoring And Community Forums: Another important PACE intervention involves engaging
community volunteers (not CET members) to serve as community project monitors. These volunteers received
training and, equipped with a simple monitoring tool that measures the timely achievement of project
milestones and quality of the work performed, reported back to residents during community-wide gatherings,
called community forums. Community monitoring forums provide important opportunities for the CET to
perceive the community’s level of support and approbation, and for communities to gain experience providing
feedback to CETs; if they continue to convene regularly, the skills and social norms they strengthen will help
prevent some of the pitfalls of inattentive or self-interested leadership. Practice and coaching is needed to
both impart an understanding of downward accountability to CET members who may tend to think only in terms
of upward accountability to the PROPEL project in particular. Further, to ensure that feedback is dealt with
effectively, CETs need guidance on addressing and resolving issues and concerns, and mechanisms to follow
up on issues raised during community forums.
d. Case story in Bor: How PACE techniques worked in practice through adaptive learning
In Bor, PROPEL engaged with community members who have experience holding leadership proles with other NGOs
in the past. PROPEL’s approach is to foster a sense of downward accountability whereby CET members represent
their community segments in decisions related to PROPEL activities. However, CET members expected incentives for
their voluntary work and saw themselves as extended PROPEL staff rather than community representatives. To
strengthen and reinforce accountability and ownership of the CET to the community, PROPEL field teams trained CETs
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 41
in the principles and mechanisms of accountability and transparency. Further, PROPEL linked community monitoring
of CDD project implementation to CET accountability through community forums where CETs gained experience in
directly addressing complaints and concerns in a public setting.
Based on interviews with CET members and stakeholders in Kolnyang and Pariak, PROPEL noted a shift in the
attitudes and perceptions of CETs. In particular, they mentioned the expectations, support and recognition of
community members as key motivations for their voluntary work. Another motivation stemmed from seeing visible
results of their efforts once CDD projects were implemented; this further developed the community’s confidence and
trust in the leadership of CET members. CET members in both communities saw themselves as advocates and
representatives on behalf of the development needs and aspirations of their community.
CET members indicated that they worked functionally with other community organizing structures, specifically PTAs,
WUCs, School Management Committees (SMCs), and hygiene promoters (also mobilized and trained by PROPEL).
CET members also mentioned acquiring new skills in teamwork and no longer working in isolation; they also learned
to mobilize both women and men to work side-by-side to discuss and address development issues. The skills they
most valued included leadership skills, the ability to mobilize both men and women, working on gender-integrated
teams, teamwork abilities, advocating for rights and successfully lobbying NGOs for resources, and cooperating with
CETs from other villages.
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques
Recommendation #1: Support maximum transparency in CDD information flow
IPs must provide maximum support to ensure that all CDD-related deliberations and decisions be conducted in
transparent, open community forums and reach the widest possible audience through ongoing community-wide
messaging. Transparency and information flow serves to hold community leaders accountable and continuously
replenishes social capital through greater inclusion and empowerment (particularly of marginalized groups).
Recommendation #2: Promote Community-based Monitoring
While the IP will conduct its own project monitoring and due diligence, the community should be empowered to monitor
their CDD programming. PROPEL developed a simple, user-friendly community-based monitoring tool that serves as
a check list for project milestones reached. Community-based monitoring also serves to hold community leaders
accountable for CDD program implementation.
Evidence from end-line findings - Bor
Bor respondents spoke favorably about specific improvements in the involvement of youth and women in decision-
making. Key informants noted community attitudes had changed to the extent of there being a general
understanding that women should contribute to decisions and that their input was valuable, and that eventual
decisions should consider their rights and needs.
Leaders also noted youth had become more cooperative and productive at meetings, and more responsive and
trusting towards leadership; whereas youth used to be represented by elders, they were now allowed to attend
meetings and speak for themselves. For the first time, youth had a say in community decisions unrelated to security
(at baseline, security decisions were their only opportunity to provide input). Key informants attributed the change
to PROPEL’s trainings, inclusion of youth during decision-making meetings, and having a youth representative on
the CET.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 42
5. Wrestling for peace – transforming traditional activities into peace-building
through grassroots leadership
a. Introduction
This section focuses on wrestling, a popular traditional activity that can serve as a vehicle for peaceful gatherings of
different communities—yet also posing the risk of a fresh outbreak of fighting. During community mapping in Dinka-
majority areas (specifically, in Awerial, Duk and Bor), people were asked about activities in the community that bring
people together, and wrestling was often mentioned along with dancing, marriages, naming ceremonies and funerals
as important traditional occasions (this was in addition to communal farming, church based activities, and other
community organizing). At the same time, wrestling was frequently mentioned in Awerial and Bor as a common trigger
of conflict.
The issue of wrestling emerged prominently in Mingkaman, both during community mapping and community
consultation and participatory conflict analysis activities led by PROPEL sub-grantee, Nurture South Sudan in late fall
of 2016. Nurture South Sudan and community stakeholders selected “wrestling for peace” as one of the project
activities for a PROPEL peace-building fund award. Wrestling can be a trigger for latent tensions as well as holding
potential for bringing youth together and was therefore selected as a quick win and one prioritized by the communities
themselves. The purpose of holding this event was to demonstrate that wrestling events (a treasured community
pastime and cultural mainstay) do not need to descend into violence and conflict. The potential of the event as a
platform for peace messaging was leveraged by Nurture’s inclusive approach of training community interlocutors. The
positive impacts of the activity beyond the event itself were reported in the qualitative end-line data because the activity
had improved relations between IDP and host youth. Wrestling for peace was part of a larger suite of peace-building
activities, aimed at changing the culture around youth interaction and raising awareness of the benefits of peace (see
PROPEL’s peace-building fund grant activity report).
PROPEL brought a CDD approach to the activity by using a bottom-up approach; Nurture brought volunteer
“community interlocutors” and an inclusive set of local leaders (official, traditional, and church leaders) together in order
to lay the groundwork for the community to carry on the activity after the completion of the grant. In addition to providing
non-violent conflict resolution training to both male and female youth and local leaders, PROPEL’s sub-grantee adapted
methods for the designation of teams, mixing oppositional identity groups (in this case, members of the local host and
IDP communities), and providing non-monetary incentives to reward both sides. These strategies mitigated the triggers
for fighting based on the outcome of the wrestling match.
Nurture South Sudan found that the active involvement of local leaders was important to the remarkable success of
the initiative. PROPEL needed to change local perceptions of wrestling, normally a popular sport, but lately a venue
where violence and revenge killing were to be feared. The involvement of prominent leaders, deployment of security
forces, and radio announcements for the event helped to achieve a high turnout, and participants and audience
expressed satisfaction with the event. The positive feedback and community desire to continue this type of activity
supports the view that wrestling is popular enough to provide an excellent platform for peace messaging. The favorable
results from PROPEL’s wrestling activities highlight the value of taking a locally-led approach to peace-building that
works within the social infrastructure already present in communities.
Literature
In a conflict setting, distinct grant pools are important for pushing forward conflict-resolution and development-related
priorities simultaneously31. In particular, it is difficult to achieve peace-building and social cohesion goals within the
first couple rounds of CDD project programming, partly because of the risk of elite capture and urgency of basic
infrastructure needs post conflict.
31 King, Elisabeth, A Critical Review of Community-Driven Development Programmes in Conflict-Affected Contexts (World Bank, 2013), 27-28.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 43
The issue of targeting CDD resources is even more important in a context where households are competing over
opportunities to meet day-to-day needs. A distinct funding mechanism that can be designed and targeted separately
can be a useful approach. Improvements in community resilience depend on the capacity of the NGO to address
emerging conflicts in a timely and locally-led manner; without this ability, gains made through CDD may be quickly lost
due to a flare-up or new external threat.
b. Key challenges to transforming conflict triggers to opportunities for peace-building
i. Traditional wrestling aggravates conflict and divides
During community mapping, members of both the host and IDP communities in Mingkaman identified wrestling
as one of their traditional values with potential to contribute to social cohesion and peace-building. However,
currently wrestling poses a risk to CDD by sparking latent tensions between members of the IDP and host
communities, resulting in violence.
Wrestling frequently takes place between youth from IDP settlements and the host community in Mingkaman.
The main reason for the conflict risks associated with wrestling is a cultural tradition of not accepting defeat.
Young women also have a role to play as they cheer on the fighters, particularly when they sing songs to
provoke or insult the losing side. The losing team may contest the loss and start a physical fight that can
quickly spread through a group of youth and affect entire communities.
The underlying reason for violence relates to tensions between youth from IDP settlements and the host
community over matters such as access to NGO resources and host community resources, and may also
reflect long-standing inter-clan grievances. In fact, it is the youth who challenge each other to wrestling
matches in teams along clan lines, so the fallout from the fighting can easily reignite old grudges.
On the other hand, youth and their communities treasure their traditional wrestling and it can be a venue for
socializing across traditional divides, an occasion when people come together who do not usually interact in a
positive way. In fact, research by Mercy Corps found that sharing in joint recreational activities can put in place
a foundation “for increased empathy and understanding,” which has the potential to foster bridging social
capital across groups32.
c. PACE CDD Methods
PACE interventions and techniques that help identify and build on traditional values with potential to strengthen CDD:
i. Community Mapping to Understand the Context: The PACE mapping activities conducted during the
community entry phase, including the household survey and stakeholder and conflict analyses serve to provide
needed information on prevailing customary cultural, social and governance norms, practices and sensitivities.
These norms and practices vary significantly among settled, urban, agro-pastoralist communities. Similarly,
communities will have been affected by diverse shocks and stressors (e.g. conflict, drought, food insecurity,
displacement) resulting in communities developing their own coping mechanisms. Understanding this context
assists in being able to adapt PACE interventions to build upon existing practices, norms and social capital for
effective CDD programming.
ii. Peace-Building Funds: In conflict-prone and affected communities (e.g. Mingkaman, Awerial County), in
order to encourage proactive peace-building PROPEL earmarked peace-building funds within the program
budget to support CETs in monitoring community tensions and implementing activities designed to quickly
defuse conflict before it turns violent. Activities supported by these funds included peace-building methods
such as dialogue, drama, and informal dispute resolution mechanisms to foster person-to-person connections
and build on existing traditions of cooperation, bringing together community members from groups that have
experienced tensions to work toward a shared development priority and increase mutual understanding.
Working with a local CSO to implement the grant, the CSO drove the project and engaged local leaders
strategically for security purposes to attract large turn-out to wrestling events. The CSO also complemented
32 Pathways from Peace to Resilience: Evidence from the Greater Horn of Africa on the Links between Conflict Management and Resi lience to Food Security Shocks (Mercy Corps, 2015), 16.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 44
this approach with a bottom-up strategy of identifying and training community interlocutors alongside the
community leaders, who then engaged in community mobilization together. Dedicated peace-building funds
provide flexibility to engage strategically with different stakeholders to transform large-scale events and
activities with potential for bringing groups together peacefully.
d. Case story in Mingkaman: A peace-building activity in application
In PROPEL’s wrestling for peace activity in Mingkaman, the challenge was twofold: first, reverse a pattern whereby
youth followed wrestling with inter-clan fighting; and second, ensure a good turnout despite security concerns. PROPEL
therefore needed to change youth attitudes regarding defeat and dignity, as well as rally the support of a range of local
leaders and community members to ensure a safe and successful event.
Nurture South Sudan and PROPEL met with local leaders, church leaders and the commissioner’s office. Local
authorities and chiefs, as well as youth and women interlocutors were trained on non-violent conflict resolution
methods. After gathering leaders and stakeholder in dialogues to discuss the purpose and design of the event, some
of the training participants (including leaders) were then asked to spread the word and encourage community members
(both host and IDP) to attend. Local authorities and traditional leaders were able to provide protection at the event by
deploying security forces to ensure it was not used as a venue for revenge killing. PROPEL’s outreach also used the
media, especially radio advertisements, and banners and flyers to dissipate negative perceptions around the idea of
wrestling. Teams were then intermixed so that hosts and IDPs were each represented on each team to prevent a
situation where only one group is the winner over the other. Male and female youth were recruited together and
provided training prior to the event to understand the purpose of wrestling for peace, and to prepare them to avoid and
dissipate violent tensions. At the close of the event, non-cash awards were given to the winners from both groups so
that IDP and host youth received medals and scarves.
The inclusive approach that engaged chiefs, local
authorities, and built up youth and women
interlocutors as leaders put in place the
mechanisms for sustainability and community
ownership of this activity. End-line data from
Awerial showed that wrestling for peace was a
reportedly successful undertaking with a high level
of local ownership. Further, PROPEL staff
observed that this approach to wrestling has been
adopted by the community who plan to use the
same model for wrestling events moving forward.
A community interlocutor also noted that IDP and
host youth were socializing more often and sharing
public resources such as community centers,
schools and water points, which was not the case
previously. These observed results point to the potential of this method to have a substantial impact in communities
with a history of tension between neighboring youth.
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques
Recommendation #1: Gather data on traditional customs and norms
As part of the community mapping and survey exercises, gather information on local traditional customs and norms.
PROPEL found that in communities which had suffered conflict and displacement, traditional mechanisms for peace-
building had been strained and some cultural practices were potentially contributing to conflict due to the highly
polarized environment. However, there was demand to resuscitate and strengthen traditional peace-building
mechanisms and other means of social capital formation and these can serve as an important means for local
empowerment (e.g. peace dialogues, and promoting peace through customs such as wrestling and dancing).
Evidence from end-line findings - Awerial
The key driver of statistically significant increases in an
indicator of capacity for internal conflict-resolution in
Mingkaman and Kalthok was improved relations between IDPs
and host communities (noted at baseline as a key challenge
for CDD). This improvement was driven by effective resolution
of disputes between the two groups through meetings and
dialogue, improved coordination between leaders and better
attitudes between hosts and IDPs more broadly. PROPEL
activities such as wrestling for peace were popular and
reportedly very helpful in reducing tensions between host and
IDP youth.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 45
Recommendation #2: Establish a peace-building fund mechanism
We recommend establishing a peace-building fund mechanism within the project budget that enables project managers
to fast-track small and timely peace-building grants. Peace-building fund sub-grantees should design interventions with
multiple components—both timely interventions and longer-term awareness raising and capacity building elements—
based on the input received through participatory conflict analysis.
6. Overcoming barriers to women’s active participation prevents attrition
a. Introduction
At each stage of PACE implementation in South Sudan, women faced obstacles to full and active participation in the
CDD process. In particular, there are cultural norms and security concerns preventing women from leaving household
and child care responsibilities to attend meetings (usually they are represented by a women’s leader instead). Further,
even if they attend meetings women are expected to remain quiet or to cook and fetch water for guests rather than
participate. Finally, women and especially female youth sometimes felt they lacked timely and appropriate information
to contribute. Due to these factors, community mapping showed that in some communities women were resistant to
attend meetings. PROPEL field teams used a combined approach of gender sensitization, female-targeted community
mobilizing, and skilled facilitation to ensure women participate in meaningful ways.
New challenges occur when it comes to women’s participation in implementing CDD projects due to work-related
gender norms and pressure points between men and women (both in the household and in work situations). As a
result, PROPEL encountered challenges in allocating skilled labor opportunities among women due to their lack of
construction-related vocational training. Women themselves pushed the envelope once they observed their male
counterparts receiving higher pay for skilled work they could be trained on relatively quickly. The CET played an
important role in such a situation by nominating women for new training opportunities and ensuring women and men
participate in all kinds of Cash for Work, providing on-the-job training where needed. The CET additionally needed to
ensure conditions for women’s success by selecting group leaders and supervisors (including women) who would
promote team work and equal participation between men and women, even when that challenged traditional gender
roles.
Literature
PROPEL’s findings on effective techniques for women’s mobilization align with those shared in the World Bank’s 2006
study of CDD in conflict-affected contexts. The report clarifies that, "There is no single prototype for achieving
representation and inclusion in a community forum; instead the procedures for representation are best devised as
appropriate to their context."33 In Afghanistan, for instance, women’s representation did not mean equal voice; some
women felt under-equipped to lead due to their relatively inferior education vis-à-vis men, and "women reported a
general lack of legitimacy and meaningful participation, as well as insufficient access to relevant information..."34 This
relates to what PROPEL found during community mapping where some women doubted whether it was worth their
time to attend meetings, or worth the risk to speak out in them. In spite of these obstacles, community mapping brought
to light that most women in PROPEL’s target communities demanded a voice at the table.
b. Key challenges to ensure women’s participation influences decision-making
The obstacles women face to participation in CDD vary depending on the cultural norms of the community in question,
the level of education of men and women, and their previous exposure to NGO activities. In some communities, CDD
implementers must overcome established cultural norms when seeking to include women’s voices in the consultation
process, as some ethnic groups do not consider it respectful for women to speak in front of men. Further, women are
33 Kuehnast, Kathleen, Community-Driven Development in the Context of Conflict-Affected Countries: Challenges and Opportunities (World Bank, 2006), 26. 34 Kuehnast, Community-Driven Development, 26.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 46
often recruited to fetch water and cook for the guests, while female youth may be called on to set up chairs and clean
and arrange the meeting place. These responsibilities preclude participation, which is not expected anyway.
Challenges begin at the moment of mobilization, when women must be freed up from household responsibilities and
obtain permission from their husbands to attend meetings. In fact, during community mapping, PROPEL was advised
by some communities that their staff should seek the permission of each woman’s husband before speaking to her.
Gender norms also affect women in relation to the type of work they are allowed to do. For instance, Cash for Work
opportunities for one project in Juba were assigned through community decision-making that adhered to traditional
gender roles: whereas men held the technical certification for skilled labor, women lacked that certification and were
given unskilled labor roles. Women requested the opportunity for on-the-job training. In response to women’s requests
in this case, CET members ensured that women had the opportunity to work as painters side-by-side with male Cash
for Work beneficiaries, and later they participated equally (albeit in a trainee role) on a road rehabilitation. The PROPEL
field team’s role was to sensitize the CET to bias implicit in the allocation of work and pay, and to help them reach a
creative solution to the women’s lack of vocational training. This approach broke with traditional gender norms for
women’s vocational training: throughout the community mapping in all target communities, people requested training
for women in tailoring and opportunities for them in terms of starting small businesses, such as baking. In other words,
work in construction was not part of their perspective prior to PROPEL.
c. PACE CDD Methods
PACE Interventions / Techniques that promote women’s active participation in CDD
i. Gender Manager: Hiring a field-based technical specialist with localized experience in gender programming
is necessary to ensure PACE interventions incorporate gender considerations at each stage. The gender
manager has a cross-programmatic role, advising on community mapping to incorporate gender issues and
successfully targeting women, as well as M&E systems for gender sensitive reporting, and most importantly
at the level of field implementation for community mobilization, project selection, women’s role in project
implementation and sustainability mechanisms, as well as gender-inclusive peace-building activities from the
Peace-building Fund. The gender manager’s role is to ensure staff capacity and put in place systems that
empower women, address constraints to equal participation and ensure they benefit equally from all CDD
activities.
ii. Gender-Aware Community Mapping: Community mapping was designed to ensure 50% representation of
women respondents in the household survey, focus group discussions with women and female youth
separately in each boma, and key informant interviews with one female community leader in each boma, as
well as one female IDP leader wherever there was an IDP settlement. During the focus groups and interviews,
PROPEL teams began to identify female leaders and role models for subsequent CDD programming. Finally,
gender dynamic mapping was conducted by the Gender Manager in each community and discussed with field
teams to reach an action plan for effective targeting and inclusion of women at each stage of CDD
programming.
iii. Standards And Leadership to Ensure Women’s Active Participation: Simply opening the door to women
to step out of traditional gender roles in terms of attending meetings and learning new job skills is not adequate
for inclusion. Instead, local women must lead mobilization efforts, and address women’s concerns proactively.
PROPEL ensured women were given the opportunity to meet together prior to attending open meetings, and
prepare the viewpoints they wanted to share with the community. To complement these efforts, PROPEL
carried out gender sensitization activities with both men and women to prepare a receptive environment in
meetings and prevent back-lash at home to prevent fall-off in attendance. Mandatory benchmarks are also
helpful to incentivize change in established norms; for instance, before proceeding with a meeting to discuss
a project, at least 50% of the participants must be women; and in order to implement a project, the CET must
ensure that women benefit equally to men. Finally, skilled facilitation during community meetings by someone
experienced in local gender dynamics is necessary to carry through on the principles of gender mainstreaming.
Through CDD projects, male and female CET members engaged women in their communities in identifying
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 47
specific development priorities and designing and implementing activities that addressed women priorities,
with numerous activities driven by female CET members.
iv. Gender-Sensitive M&E: PROPEL disaggregated all data by gender to identify and address discrepancies in
program impact on men and women, while also including specific gender-related indicators. This enabled
ongoing tracking of women’s attendance and participation in all CDD related events, their membership and
participation on CETs and WUCs, and as direct beneficiaries of cash-for-work projects. Frequent site visits
and weekly reporting by the gender manager were also important for achieving tangible results. For instance,
where equal numbers of women were represented among Cash-for-Work beneficiaries, the pay and
opportunity for skilled work experience was inequitably distributed due to entrenched gender norms. This
finding spurred more active involvement of the CET in providing new solutions for women’s empowerment,
and presence on work sites to ensure collaboration and sharing of opportunities among men and women.
Women filling team leader and supervisor roles also are important for ensuring a gender-friendly work
environment.
d. Case story in Juba: How PACE techniques worked in practice through adaptive learning
In Juba, PROPEL followed a community-led process whereby vulnerable households in the neighborhood of the CDD
project are selected by the CET for Cash-for-Work. PROPEL requires that women from vulnerable households are
included in equivalent numbers to men. During a validation meeting, community stakeholders approved whether or not
the targeting was impartially done and benefits were distributed across needy households. However, the gender
implications of the allocation of skilled and unskilled positions were not ordinarily monitored by the PROPEL team since
the positions were assigned based on technical qualifications under the oversight of the engineer. It should be noted,
however, that women were given the position of team leaders so that there were always female supervisors on site.
Representation of women among CFW beneficiaries was inadequate to ensure that financial and professional benefits
flowed equitably. In the case of the Juba rehabilitation projects, women lacked the technical qualifications for the skilled
jobs, and as a result they took on heavier and lower paid work while men were given skilled positions. Women CFW
beneficiaries for the Lologo Community Center requested the opportunity to learn skilled work, and approved by the
team leadership and the project engineer.
The PROPEL engineer selected women CFW
beneficiaries to be given on-the-job training in
painting the community center. When the PROPEL
engineer started the Lologo culvert rehabilitation,
women unskilled workers were given opportunities
to be trained and work alongside the skilled
workers. The women learned road alignments and
ramping, mixing the concrete, opening the drainage
system and building the retaining wall. The team
supervisors, including a female member of the CET
who provided voluntary oversight, were active in
ensuring women were given equal opportunities
and providing a collaborative working environment.
The training opportunity offered by the PROPEL
engineer and project supervisors to the CFW
women beneficiaries allowed them to realize their
full potential in terms of the work opportunities at
hand. Women acquired the skills and experience
needed to obtain higher paid, skilled work in the
future and overcame the segregation of skilled and
unskilled workers that results from traditional
gender roles. Further, male workers came to
Evidence from end-line findings - Juba
While there is no statistically significant change from
baseline to end-line in Juba in terms of the representation of
women’s interests in community decisions, there was a clear
indication of an increase in divergence of opinions.
Qualitative findings indicated that exposure to women’s voice
and involvement in decision-making through PROPEL
activities and trainings led to a more accurate assessment of
leadership’s failure to address women’s interests. The fact
the decline was concentrated among women and youth
suggests PROPEL’s gender and youth training drove greater
awareness on this issue, resulting in more negative
perceptions among this subgroup.
Interestingly, in Juba there was a weak statistically significant
and positive difference between respondents who benefited
from cash-for-work or other PROPEL projects (55%)
compared to respondents who did not (47%), suggesting that
PROPEL activities met women’s needs and demonstrated
the impact of their voice on decision-making.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 48
appreciate the women’s commitment to developing their community and readily provided the required training under
the oversight of the engineer and project supervisors. The strong leadership and management ski lls demonstrated by
the female team leader and supervisor encouraged the women to build good relationships among themselves and
remain focused on their activities until the completion of the CDD projects. As a result, the women had a strong shared
understanding of the value of their participation in CDD projects.
e. Recommended CDD methods and techniques
Recommendation #1: Mainstream gender consideration across all aspects of CDD programming Put women’s inclusion, participation and voice at the forefront of CDD programming given its outsized impact on project outcomes and sustainability. PROPEL was deliberately inclusive of women and their voice and participation to ensure CDD programming was appropriate or sustainable as every aspect of CDD programming impacts, or is impacted by women in their communities. Our experience tells us that the more women are informed of CDD programming the more they will participate. Recommendation #2: Women’s active participation begins with program recruitment and staffing Program recruitment and staffing must reflect the importance of women’s inclusion and participation in all aspects of CDD programming. Recruit a senior gender manager and ensure field women representation on field teams. Recommendation #3: Use the following PACE techniques for boosting women participation While methods for including women in CDD programming are largely context-specific, there are techniques that apply most anywhere: set quotas for women inclusion in community engagement and their representation on CDD decision making bodies; as well as attendance at community events. Enable and empower women to attend community events by providing child care options; convening separate all-female gatherings; and empowering women to nudge traditional customs and norms. Carry out gender sensitization workshops with men and women to shift mindsets to allow women space to challenge traditional norms and customs without backlash. Traditionally, it is men who fulfill the role of custodians of gender norms and who are therefore gatekeepers of change. Recommendation #4: Design and employ gender-specific M&E and Learning criteria Specific gender-related M&E and learning criteria will enable adaptive management that can continue to challenge
assumptions and related approaches concerning women’s inclusion and participation.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 49
Conclusion
The methods and techniques presented in this document have been tested in South Sudan in varied contexts, and
found effective despite localized conflicts. PROPEL’s PACE methodology tailored to South Sudan is applicable for
humanitarian assistance as well as development assistance and peace-building interventions in-country, and is
supplemented by a set of training modules and project management guidance tailored for South Sudan. Following the
issue-based structure of the report, humanitarian and development practitioners can apply relevant techniques to the
specific challenges and contextual dynamics of their activities and regions of operation.
This document provides guidance for applying key CDD principles in order to achieve a do-no-harm approach in
regards to South Sudan’s political economy through the following methods:
An inclusive approach that ensures representation of all community segments;
Coordination with local leaders using methods to ensure transparency;
Targeted outreach to women and gender sensitization to promote women’s voice in decision-making;
Strategic communications and grievance redress mechanisms throughout implementation; and
Conflict-mitigation structures and capacity building incorporated into sustainability.
Security is a primary need in South Sudan; while security-related dynamics and capacities are often outside the scope
of a given program, CDD is supported by complementary peace-building activities of USAID and local CSO partners.
The PROPEL experience demonstrates that coordinating and complementing livelihood and resource-related activities
with peace-building initiatives can help settle and prevent localized disputes.
The CLA approach is critical to the goal of reducing costs and improving outcomes of interventions in South Sudan
because it results in the documentation of evidence-based methods. The integration of that learning into the design of
future projects, and the ongoing commitment of USAID-South Sudan to collecting, documenting and sharing lessons
learned will prevent costly mistakes in future. Further, CLA allows for continuity and growth from one project to the next
because new implementing partners do not need to repeat the learning process of their predecessors, but can build
on that work and leverage it to better effect. Through CLA, CDD will contribute to improved sustainability while also
enabling aid practitioners to implement a do no harm approach in South Sudan’s conflict setting.
The PROPEL experience sheds light on key challenges to CDD that vary across contexts in South Sudan, as well as
the unique demands placed on communities and local leaders that a CDD approach is designed to address.
Implemented over an 11-20 month timeframe, PROPEL’s methods will require further adaptive learning in future
implementation over longer programming cycles. PROPEL was able to achieve statistically significant results in terms
of improved social capital and conflict-resolution resilience indicators in some but not all contexts. More work is needed
to test methods of CDD and conditions for success in urban areas in particular, where targeting is particularly
problematic due to population density and multi-layered needs for services, infrastructure and security.
Successive rounds of CDD projects over a longer time period will allow for greater elaboration of methods for
community oversight of project implementation and management of resources. PROPEL recommends CDD
implementation across clusters of communities in order to leverage peace-building opportunities to mitigate inter-
community conflict and achieve well-being targets that require greater scale. The methods tested and presented here
provide the basis for implementing CDD at a larger scale, and demonstrate that this approach is feasible and essential
for strengthening resilience in South Sudan.
Community-driven Development Methods for South Sudan: Key Findings and Recommendations 50
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