EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
From day one of its existence as an independent nation, South Sudan grappled with the enduring legacy of years of conflict. Risen from a decades-long struggle for its freedom, the world’s youngest country nevertheless saw a tremendous wave of hope among its people, unleashed by South Sudan’s independence in July 2011.
Yet, less than a thousand days later, South Sudan brutally descended once again into conflict. In late 2013, political jostling for power escalated into armed violence and fighting broke out in Juba, the nation’s capital. Conflict soon spread across the Greater Upper Nile region, in Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei States. Hundreds of thousands of people were again displaced, and entire communities were gripped by violence. Lives and livelihoods were lost, markets ceased to function and access to essential services all but collapsed. Many humanitarian actors were forced to suspend operations as security deteriorated. At the same time evidence was accumulating that a growing number of people were on the edge of a catastrophic food security and nutrition crisis.
Reaching those most vulnerable became an imperative. It required being creative and finding new ways to deliver, despite the complex environment. The World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) thus set-up a joint Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), designed to reach the hardest to reach areas and to re-open humanitarian space, using general food distribution as a way to access large numbers of conflict-affected populations, conduct registrations and allow screening to trigger services in nutrition and other sectors. The WFP-UNICEF RRM targeted, as a priority, areas with particularly alarming food insecurity levels, and delivered an integrated package of life-saving humanitarian relief. This included general food distributions, preventive blanket supplementary feeding, curative nutrition services, together with immunisations for children, help for communities to access safe water, and support for children to access education and critical child protection services. Starting up with core funds, both agencies partnered with more than fifty local and international organisations and gathered support from donors and humanitarian partners operating in South Sudan.
One year on, more than 1.34 million people were reached by WFP general food distribution, including 220,000 children under 5 who received blanket supplementary feeding in areas targeted under the RRM. More than 730,000 people, including over 154,000 children under five, were reached by UNICEF RRM interventions in nutrition, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, education and child protection. The RRM was also an enabler in reaching significant numbers of people previously out of reach. Close to three quarters of all people serviced by WFP’s food distributions were reached via the RRM. In conflict-affected states, one in four children UNICEF vaccinated against measles was reached through the RRM. The mechanism played a key role in accelerating responses, expanding coverage, reestablishing a presence by humanitarian actors, and broadening overall humanitarian space. Though it may be too early to tell, preliminary data suggests that the scale-up in operations—facilitated through the WFP-UNICEF RRM—helped stabilise the food security and nutrition situation in the country, even though it remains fragile.
WFP and UNICEF however faced tremendous obstacles. One third of missions planned were eventually cancelled or delayed because of volatile security and a tough operating environment. Making sure services could continue following the completion of a mission was another challenge. Still, looking forward, WFP and UNICEF are drawing on lessons from the last twelve months. Priorities ahead include better monitoring and follow-up, so results can stick. Keeping a flexible approach, both agencies will also invest in programme quality, so results bring change. And perhaps first and foremost, UNICEF and WFP will work together with partners to continue building capacity on the ground so renewed humanitarian presence is both lasting and meaningful for the most vulnerable.