Humanitarian engagement in South Sudan has been shaped by political events and violent conflicts that have led to severe and protracted humanitarian crises. The local and national NGO sector in South Sudan has its origins in the wars of the 1980s and 1990s, and has been shaped by the post-2005 reconfigurations of governments and NGOs and the escalation of armed conflict in December 2013 and July 2016. This post-2013 period has prompted further evolution in the numbers of L/NNGOs involved in the humanitarian response in South Sudan, and the amount of funding they receive has grown substantially since 2013. 

This evolution gives rise to various questions, particularly how organisations have developed institutionally and in terms of socio-political authority. The study looks back to Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) and the period immediately after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), as well as more recent events to consider the changing number and size of organisations, their thematic focus and activities, as well as their relationships with communities, beneficiaries, other authority figures and the political system itself.

The study aims to understand how NGOs at local and national levels have been shaped by major events such as the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and South Sudan's independence as well as, more recently, the changes associated with the conflict in December 2013 and July 2016. The project further seeks to grasp the leadership styles and composition of local and national NGOs and what the realities are for managing funding shortfalls or gaps, and how they cope. 

The main objectives of this research are:

• To better understand the historical, political, social and geographical dynamics of local and national NGOs in South Sudan, including a deeper understanding of how the NGO sector has evolved over time and how these organisations have developed institutionally;
• To understand the ways in which local and national NGOs influence and are influenced by their external environment, and how this shapes their institutional and programming decisions;
• To identify the implications for DFID South Sudan’s engagement strategy with local and national humanitarian actors and the localisation agenda in South Sudan.

The project has published two reports to further understandings of the struggles and strategies of local and national organisations during complex emergencies. Moving beyond global-level debates, the reports focus on the histories, politico-economic dynamics and everyday realities of South Sudanese NGOs during South Sudan’s armed conflicts and intermittent periods of peace.

Drawing on ethnographic and historical research in sites across South Sudan, the team conducted consultations with over 200 people in urban and rural areas working for local and national NGOs, as well as local communities, authorities and former staff.

Bringing local perspectives to global debates on localisation, the report makes a rare contribution to knowledge on the everyday efforts and motivations of South Sudanese NGOs, and structural issues within the aid sector.

Read the full project report here.

Read the short policy paper with recommendations for donors in South Sudan.

For more information about the project reports and key findings please click here.

This research project includes a robust review of academic and grey literature on local and national NGOs in South Sudan. In addition, researchers are conducting primary data collection in five distinct sites in South Sudan: Akobo, Ganyliel, Juba, Wau and Yambio, with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of similarities and differences across and within different locations. In each site, researchers are conducting key informant and life history interviews and focus group discussions, seeking to construct organisational histories to understand the trajectories of specific local and national NGOs.

This research project is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) through the Research for Evidence Division (RED) for the benefit of developing countries. However, the views expressed and information contained in it is not necessarily those of or endorsed by DFID, which can accept no responsibility for such views or information or for any reliance placed on them.