Annual Learning Forum 2018

Partnership for Recovery and Resilience accountability and Learning Event Held with Partners in South Sudan

A broad range of local community leaders, development partners, non-governmental organizations and UN entities gathered this week in Juba, South Sudan, for a Learning Event to discuss the status of vulnerability and resilience in South Sudan and to learn what has worked and not worked to reduce vulnerability and enhance coping capacity. The Learning Event also served to understand commitments undertaken by communities to create an environment to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience; it provided an opportunity to learn, adapt and support mutual accountability and improve collective outcomes through joint programming launched this year under the umbrella of the Partnership for Recovery and Resilience in South Sudan (PfRR).

The event included presentations on analyses of impact and local community ownership, and an assessment of the impact and contributions of current programs to reduce vulnerability and build resilience in South Sudan.

“I would like to call upon the partnership to consider linking humanitarian assistance to development while building the capacity of communities without creating dependence,” said Francis Deng, UN Former Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide and representative of elders at the event.

To draw on lesson learned and contribute with global knowledge, regional and international experts also participated in the event.

Over 150 participants from the NGO community, the UN, and international Development Partners attended the event on each of the three days. The Learning Event was further enriched by the participation of a high-level delegation from Yambio, led by the Governor, Hon. Daniel Badagbu. This was significant, as Yambio is implementing the PfRR through a dedicated UN Joint Program for Recovery and Resilience in Yambio, 2018 – 2021. DSRSG Noudehou noted that the consistently full hall each day of the event comprised of various stakeholders, demonstrates a collective commitment.

“This partnership is in line with the “New Way of Working” that embraces innovation and a people-centred approach and works across different support areas in a more coordinated way. It promotes a comprehensive approach that brings together our collective efforts to address peacebuilding, development, humanitarian and security challenges,” said DSRSG/RC/HC, Alain Noudehou.

The Learning Event is the latest joint activity by the Partnership for Recovery and Resilience (PfRR) in South Sudan and intended to serve as a catalyst for the partnership to develop concrete and responsive priorities for 2019.

“In the heart of this partnership is the commitment, the local desire and readiness of communities to work together to advance their own ideas and plans to better the lives of their citizens,” commented USAID Mission Director, James Hope.

“The NGO Forum consists of 330 national and international NGOs, with 92% of local employees, an indication of available capacity to support the partnership. I also urge the involvement of the private sector, who are key to improving the lives of communities,” said the NGO Forum Director, Pius Ojara.

The PfRR is committed to a “New Way of Working” that shifts the focus from “meeting needs” to “reducing needs, risks, and vulnerability, and will continue to work towards its collective goals and outcomes in the coming months.

Date: 15 November 2018, Juba