Resilience Building in Complex Emergencies: WASH Programming in Conflict States in South Sudan
- 1. KING & WHITE 1 39th WEDC International Conference, Kumasi, Ghana, 2016 ENSURING AVAILABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER AND SANITATION FOR ALL Resilience Building in Complex Emergencies: WASH Programming in Conflict States in South Sudan King. K & White. E (United Kingdom) BRIEFING PAPER Conflict settings present a multitude of complexities due to their inherent volatility. In the case of South Sudan, numerous crises are concurrently faced including conflict, mass displacement, drought, chronic hunger and economic deterioration. South Sudan is a context that requires a long-term holistic view of the transitions between humanitarian and development initiatives, so that outcomes are mutually reinforcing. Resilience building through strengthening absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity and transformative capacity, has the ability to ensure reinforcing transitions. Through specially designed WASH programme approaches, such as infrastructure development in emergency response, building local existing capacity to strengthen and maintain water supply infrastructure, strengthening supply chains and markets, and building social connections, Oxfam has achieved and further aims to increase the ability of communities to adapt to and cope with disasters, crises, shocks and stresses, so as to protect and build on development gains and address the effects of underlying vulnerabilities that challenge them. This paper concludes that it is possible to build adaptive capacity of crisis affected communities through emergency WASH programming in remote conflict states in South Sudan, approaches which have the ability to build absorptive and transformative capacity, demonstrating that resilience can be built within crisis and non- crisis periods to allow mutually reinforcing outcomes between transitions, ensuring development gains are not lost and resilience is actively increased. Managing Transitions between Crisis and Development and the Importance of Resilience When a crisis occurs, whether due to a disaster, economic deterioration or conflict, it will impact any ongoing development in an affected society. To ensure that impacts from crises do not detrimentally affect essential development, the transitions between states of crisis need to be strategically supported. This can be achieved through: i) Strengthening vulnerable societies absorptive capacity, i.e. The ability of a system to prepare for, mitigate or prevent negative impacts of crises, using predetermined coping responses in order to preserve and restore essential basic structures and functions. ii) Developing vulnerable societies adaptive capacity, i.e. the ability of a system to adjust, modify or change its characteristics and actions to moderate potential future damage and to take advantage of opportunities, so that it can continue to function without major qualitative changes in function or structural identity. iii) Promoting the transformative capacity of a vulnerable society, i.e. the ability to create a fundamentally new system so that a shock will no longer have any impact. All three capacities are fundamental to resilience building. Resilience Building in a Complex Emergency Context A conflict setting presents a multitude of complexities due to its inherent volatility. In the case of South Sudan, a country that faces numerous crises including conflict, mass displacement, drought, chronic hunger and economic deterioration, a long-term holistic view of the links between humanitarian and development initiatives is needed from the outset, so that outcomes are mutually reinforcing. All programmes should address the immediate needs of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and host communities, as well as their strategic needs, supporting and building their absorptive and adaptive
- 2. KING & WHITE 2 capacity to increase their ability to cope with crises, adapt to prevailing situations and to actively build transformative capacity, enabling a society to consequently become less vulnerable. The Complex Context of South Sudan The people of South Sudan have endured conflict for 42 of the last 60 years (BBC 2015). Civil wars have taken place against a backdrop of seasonal food insecurity, resource-based conflict and tensions within and between communities. Whilst these factors alone did not cause the civil war that started in December 2013, the vulnerabilities they created help explain the speed and extent to which it spread. Conflicts in the country are continuously shifting, meaning high-risk areas are not high-risk all the time, and relatively low-risk areas can also fall into conflict. These dynamics are further compounded by the effects of under development. When South Sudan gained independence in 2011, it had suffered decades of little to no investment, leading to a lack of functioning infrastructure. There has been some improvement, but investments still largely focus on locations and sectors that benefit a powerful minority at the expense of the rest of the country. Only 10 - 20% of South Sudan’s revenue goes to states and rural areas beyond Juba, the capital (The Sentry 2015). In the traditional conflict states of Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei, crises due to conflict, climate change and a failing economy continue to drive food insecurity, water shortages and mass displacement. South Sudan is currently experiencing the worst food crisis since gaining independence in 2011, with 2.8 million people – almost quarter of the population – facing acute food and nutrition insecurity in the current dry season (IPC 2015). Large displacements of people in Unity State as a result of conflict have left an estimated 40,000 people facing catastrophic levels of hunger (ibid). As the dry season progresses, swamps and rivers are drying up, depleting precious limited food stocks like fish and water lilies - one of the few coping mechanisms people have left. The most vulnerable households are resorting to selling off their productive assets to buy increasingly expensive staples and commodities. Oxfam’s Resilience Programming Approach in South Sudan Oxfam defines resilience as ‘the ability of women, men, and children to realise their rights and improve their well-being despite shocks, stresses, and uncertainty’ (Oxfam 2013). In South Sudan, Oxfam’s programme approach focuses on combining humanitarian action for acute and chronic emergencies with longer-term and sustainable approaches that are traditionally associated with development in a complex conflict context. The approach looks to increase the ability of communities to adapt to and cope with disasters, crises, shocks and stresses, so as to protect and build on development gains and address the effects of underlying vulnerabilities that challenge them. Being resilient includes being flexible in the face of changing risks including conflict and climate change; factors that are increasingly influencing risk patterns throughout South Sudan. The multi-dimensional nature of resilience necessitates a ‘one programme approach’, bringing together Oxfam’s humanitarian, development and influencing programming for a holistic means of addressing current crises, while delivering innate, systemic and long-term change at scale. Programme design is based on high-quality risk analysis and a detailed knowledge and understanding of the multiple types of shocks and stresses that people face and their vulnerabilities and capacities, which comes through regular community consultations. This approach also aids in the identification of future scenarios and trends. Resulting programming actively addresses the findings of this analysis, through flexible approaches that enables Oxfam, its partners and beneficiaries to adapt to changing environments; essential in the context of South Sudani . Key components of resilience in the humanitarian sphere as described by King (2015), adapted from Bosher (2005), highlights six key components of resilience: i) Access to assets - asset ownership, such as a house, transportation or tools, forms a level of security and capital; ii) Access to basic services - services, such as water, sanitation and health care are vital for survival and maintenance of health; iii) Access to economic opportunity - proactively encouraging livelihood opportunities and market stimulation will foster local economic recovery, stimulating the rehabilitation of local services and amenities. It will also allow individuals/households (HHs) to raise essential capital to manage their own recovery; iv) Access to legal and financial services - access to cash in a crisis can be fundamental to securing accommodation, starting up businesses, and an opportunity for individuals/HHs to manage their own recovery; v) Strong social and political networks - supportive social networks, such as friends, family and community members, help mitigate adverse consequences and strengthen access to resources. Political connections, i.e. access to local government, civil organisations and international organisations provide essential support, information and guidance; vi) Risk perception - individual conceptualisation
- 3. KING & WHITE 3 Figure 1. Market linkages and population flows in the traditional conflict states of Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile. Source: Oxfam South Sudan’s Resilience Strategy 2016 of individual/HH/community resilience is vital to encourage self-belief and ownership of recovery and not dependency. These key components are built into Oxfam’s programming in South Sudan to ensure absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity and transformative capacity can be achieved. Through Oxfam’s large WASH programme, several essential components of resilience are built: access to services, e.g. water supply and sanitation; economic opportunities, e.g. skills building (pump mechanics, latrine construction, slab construction), developing trade (spare parts, construction materials); strengthening social and political connections, e.g. building capacity of host communities, mitigating protection concerns and potential conflict, building capacity of local ministries; and lastly, risk perception, e.g. encouraging community-led and owned programmes. The following section details examples of humanitarian WASH programming approaches undertaken by Oxfam in traditional conflict states in South Sudan. WASH Programming in the Conflict States of Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile Oxfam currently undertakes humanitarian WASH programming and rapid response activities in southern Unity, northern and western Jonglei and Upper Nile. In southern Unity, recent violent conflict left 10,553 dead and 56,129 displaced to the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) Protection of Civilians (PoC) site, absorbed into host communities, and finding refuge on islands scattered throughout the Sudd (Office of the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator 2016). In northern and western Jonglei, continual clashes between warring parties have forced large populations to flee in order to find support from host communities or transition through to Gambella, Ethiopia (refer to Figure 1). As the oil rich part of the country, Upper Nile is extremely volatile, with continual eruption of conflict between warring parties led Oxfam to support IDP camps in Melut and Maban. Infrastructure Development in Emergency Response The provision of adequate water supply and sanitation facilities ensures access to basic services, which is a key component of resilience. There are many opportunities to develop water and sanitation service infrastructure in emergency response, even within complex conflict settings. Oxfam’s 3 month rapid response in southern Unity saw the need to provide safe water supplies and sanitation to over 25,000 IDPs and host communitiesii , where many were taking refuge on small islands. With a base in Nyal town and a mandate to go to ‘hard to reach locations’, Oxfam targeted islands up to two and a half hour canoe rides from the town where host communities reside and fleeing IDPs had settled to find refuge away from the violence. With no access to safe water or sanitation and sole reliance on contaminated swamp water for drinking and domestic use, the approach undertaken saw the installation of new hand dug wells on six
- 4. KING & WHITE 4 islands, the repair of 10 existing handpumps and the construction of 209 household latrinesiii . Latrine construction exceeded the initial aim of 150 households, presenting a high demand and willingness within the community to own their own latrine, demonstrating that this simple, low cost, self-build approach is contextually appropriate within response activities. The hand dug wells used permawell lining (refer to Photo 1), which is a lightweight, easily transportable liner that is quick to construct. This approach allowed access to safe drinking water within the response period, as well as leaving permanent infrastructure for residents and for future hosting needs. Humanitarian work undertaken in Maban, Upper Nile, and Twic East, Lankien and Walgak, Jonglei, has focused on scaling up more sustainable water supply and sanitation infrastructure. With a focus on building capacity of host communities to support influxes of IDPs, Oxfam have been drilling new boreholes and repairing and upgrading existing boreholes to increase access to safe water. A new more sustainable hand pump design is being trialed in both states. The Fairwater blue pump (refer to Photo 2) is a hand pump designed to operate at depth (allowing water provision in the wet and dry seasons), increase the lifespan of the water point between breakdowns and minimise the need for spare parts, which is an essential design components for regions that have limited connections to markets. Photograph 1. Photograph 2. Photograph 3. Hand dug well liner installation Fairwater blue pump in Lankien, Transporting latrine slabs to in Nyal response Jonglei state IDPs and hosts on islands surrounding Nyal, Unity State The scale up of water supply infrastructure and the introduction of new technology supports households absorptive capacity, e.g. to manage water access in the dry season/potential drought; adaptive capacity, e.g. to manage water resources during an influx of IDPs; and their transformative capacity by ultimately ensuring resilience to shocks, such as large IDP influx and drought through infrastructure that has the capacity, robustness and sustainability to manage a variety of extreme perturbations that may cause crisis situations. To provide sustainable sanitation at scale within rapid response and longer-term humanitarian programming, an incentivised household self-build latrine construction approach is used. Within this approach households are given an opportunity to construct their own latrine through a small incentive - the provision of a latrine slab - after the household digs a pit. The household is then responsible for constructing the superstructure with no further inputs from Oxfam. Technical guidance is given on the location of the pit to reduce potential for collapse, and the dug pit is inspected to ensure it has been constructed correctly before the slab is distributed to the household. The slab base and the superstructure will also be checked to ensure quality. Ownership is strong and the technically guided approach will allow the household to repeat the construction of a new latrine when the pit fills, ensuring continued access to sanitation facilities. This approach has been very successful, with rapid, high uptake in all areas of implementation – Unity, western Jonglei and northern Jonglei - resulting in 1288 household latrines constructed within rapid responses and post-crisis environments, within a 1 year periodiv , supporting host communities and IDPs throughout the crisis, as well as leaving lasting infrastructure (refer to Photo 3). An Oxfam internal evaluationv found that there was an 8% collapse rate in northern Jonglei, with the main factor for collapse the construction of latrines in low lying areas, which sees the heavy rains inundate the unstable cotton soil. Focus group discussions and observations found that all households were digging new latrines to replace the collapsed ones. In areas where there is no choice but to construct in a low lying area, pit linings are installed through the support of Oxfam technicians using sandbags.
- 5. KING & WHITE 5 Building Resilience through Supply Chains for Spare Parts and Construction Materials The current conflict in South Sudan requires recognition that more efficient use of relief inputs will be required if overall coping ability of local communities is to be strengthened - including markets and commercial networks. Oxfam’s strategy is based upon operational presence in areas that are displacement/return routes and that are linked through markets and trade. This enables Oxfam and its partners to reinforce positive linkages between ethnic groups through expanding previous and existing reciprocity systems and strengthening supply lines to increase availability of goods and trade in markets. Essential WASH construction materials can be found in different parts of South Sudan, for example, sand is abundant in northern Jonglei, whilst gravel can be sourced in central Equatoria, By linking states and counties that have critical materials with those that have or have had market connections and/or trade routes, Oxfam helps to strengthen local market capacity, which should improve access and availability to basic goods for vulnerable conflict affected communities. This will ensure communities are able to support their own development through community-led and owned approaches. There are many market linkages and population flows throughout the Greater Upper Nile (Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile states) (refer to Figure 1). These interconnections present co-reliance opportunities to enhance trade, economic growth and peaceful co-existence between communities, supporting the development of resilience. Building Local Existing Capacity to Strengthen and Maintain Water Supply Infrastructure Understanding existing local capacity and actively building this capacity to support and lead on humanitarian response, as well as offer sustainable management of infrastructure, is key to building local resilience. Empowering state authorities and ensuring that they are held to account will maintain vital governance in the area of operation. Oxfam’s WASH team actively promotes working through the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure (MoPI) in government held areas and equivalent authorities in opposition held areas, where possible, involving them in assessments and programme planning. Existing pump mechanics are trained and paid to repair boreholes in order to maintain the MoPI’s or opposition area equivalent’s functionality and authority in operational areas. Strengthening local authorities’ ability to provide support services to build up and maintain water and sanitation service infrastructure enables a local authority to be a productive and accountable entity. Local private sector and skilled traders should be utilised, as they can offer a huge resource for rehabilitation and (re)construction. Within a crisis, tapping into this will allow rapid asset recovery and livelihood stimulation, essential for developing adaptive capacity. Oxfam, where available, contract local skilled labour to rehabilitate boreholes, construct latrine slabs (e.g. dome slabs), support vulnerable households to construct latrines, and purchase any available construction materials locally, supporting local traders. Working through local partners can also offer an asset for the development of resilience and appropriate and timely crisis management. Local partners have a wealth of local knowledge and strong community relationships, which can be used to build grass roots resilience. The capacity of local partners can be strengthened to develop local response capabilities to quickly respond to emergencies at scale. This results in more effective and context appropriate transitions between crisis and non-crisis periods, with minimal external support needed. In 2014, Oxfam in South Sudan made a strategic decision in its annual Humanitarian Strategy to work with and through local partners and to keep them as a cornerstone of resilience programming throughout the traditional conflict states over the coming five years. To date this approach has strengthened the capacity of Oxfam’s local partner in Unity state, UNIDO, which has supported a stronger, more continuous presents in the area, enabled more contextually reflective work to be undertaken, an ability to react rapidly to needs and to crisis, and ensure South Sudanese ownership and accountability in preparedness and response activities. Building Social Connections for Resilience Existing prior research from Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS – the collective humanitarian response to the 1989 – 2005 civil war in then southern Sudan) recommends that ‘the social and economic structures of South Sudan must be established so that projects can respond effectively to the social consequences of war’ (UNICEF 1996). Supporting the maintenance and development of social bonds, whilst mitigating any potential for conflict between communities, i.e. IDP and host community, will significantly increase resilience, due to an ability to share resources and co-rely on each other in times of crisis, raising their absorptive and adaptive capacity. Oxfam programmes support host communities to enable them to cater for influxes of IDPs, ensuring sufficient water supplies and sanitation facilities are made available to prevent over use of resources, which may cause resentment and a breakdown of social connections. Situations can arise that see IDPs forced to collect water at night, due to limited access in the day, which has exposed them to Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV). Social dynamics need to be accounted for in emergency
- 6. KING & WHITE 6 WASH programming, as it can result in conflict and protection issues, which will break down social connections, leaving communities vulnerable. Social cohesions can be reinforced through proper siting of facilities and the implementation of sufficient water supplies based on community consultation, which will account for the context and challenges faced by the conflict affected communities. Markets, as well as trade between communities previously in conflict, can be used to build social interaction and co- reliance to help promote positive and productive interaction. Similarly, market linkages also reflect IDP displacement/return routes, which will enable support in key strategic areas along these routes for assistance, integration, re-integration and promotion of peaceful coexistence and diversity amongst ethnic groups as they travel in search of family members, for refuge or on their return home. Conclusion It has been shown that there are a number of strategic interventions that can be implemented within WASH programming to actively build resilience by strengthening absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity within complex emergency settings. These interventions include the development of infrastructure, strengthening supply chains and building local capacity and social connections. These resilience building initiatives have the ability to establish links between crisis and non-crisis periods, mutually reinforcing transitions to actively build transformative capacity, which aims to stimulate the evolution of a fundamentally new system that will ensure shocks will no longer have an impact on a formerly exposed society. References BBC (2015) South Sudan warring sides 'stockpiling weapons' – UN. BBC news Africa, 5th November 2015. Bosher, L. S. (2005) ‘The divine Heirarchy’: The Social and Institutional Elements of Vulnerability in South India. A Thesis Submitted to Middlesex University. IPC (2015) Integrated food security phase classification, the Republic of South Sudan. An IPC publication. King, K. G. (2015) Resilience in the Humanitarian Sphere: Stimulating Resilience for Recovery in Haiti. A Thesis Submitted to Loughborough University. Office of the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator (2016) Crisis impacts on households in Unity State, South Sudan 2014-2015. Oxfam (2013) No Accident: Resilience and the Inequality of Risk. Oxfam Briefing Paper, 21st May, 2013. The Sentry (2015) The Nexus of Corruption and Conflict in South Sudan, Dismantling the Financing of Africa’s Most Deadliest Conflicts. A Sentry publication. UNICEF (1996) Operation Lifeline Sudan: A Review. A UNICEF publication. Contact details About the authors: Dr Katrice King currently the Senior WASH Coordinator for Oxfam South Sudan, has worked in South Sudan for over 14 months and has undertaken senior WASH roles in a further 8 countries globally. Completing a PhD in January 2015 on Resilience in the Humanitarian Sphere. Elizabeth White, currently the Policy Adviser for Oxfam South Sudan, is an advocacy, policy and campaigns professional with a background in conflict and protracted crisis settings including South Sudan and Somalia. Dr Katrice King Senior WASH Advisor Oxfam, South Sudan Email: kking@oxfam.org.uk Elizabeth White Policy Adviser Oxfam, South Sudan Email: ewhite@oxfam.org.uk Endnotes i Oxfam South Sudan’s Resilience Strategy 2016 ii Oxfam Nyal Rapid Assessment Report, 11-17th September 2015 iii Oxfam Nyal EP&R Response Endline Survey, January 2016. iv Oxfam Final Donor Reports – OFDA 2015 & 2016, ECHO 2015 & 2016 v Household Latrine Programme in Lankien, Internal Evaluation, July 2015. Oxfam South Sudan.