VIABLE SUPPORT TO TRANSITION AND STABILITY (VISTAS) FY 2016 ANNUAL REPORT OCTOBER1, 2015 - SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
JUNE 2016 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by AECOM. VIABLE SUPPORT TO TRANSITION AND STABILITY (VISTAS) FY 2016 ANNUAL REPORT OCTOBER 1, 2015- SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
Contract No. AID-668-C-13-00004
Submitted to: USAID South Sudan
Prepared by: AECOM International Development
Prepared for: Office of Transition and Conflict Mitigation (OTCM) USAID South Sudan Mission American Embassy Juba, South Sudan
DISCLAIMER: The authors’ views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) i TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Executive Summary ...... 1 II. Political and security Landscape ...... 2 National Political, Security, and Operational Landscape ...... 2 Political & Security Landscape in VISTAS Regional Offices ...... 4 III. Program Strategy...... 7 IV. Program Highlights ...... 9 To Increase Space and Tools to Manage Conflict and Tensions ...... 9 To Build Cross-Line Interdependency to Promote Peaceful Coexistence ...... 11 To Promote a More Informed Community ...... 12 To Engage Communities in Trauma Awareness to Lay the Foundation for Healing and Reconciliation ...... 14 Support to Women ...... 16 V. Impact ...... 17 VI. Monitoring & Evaluation ...... 20 VII. Administration And Logistics ...... 21 Offices and Staffing ...... 21 Operations ...... 21 Annex A: Financial Information (For Internal USAID Use Only) ...... 23 Annex B: Schedule Of Upcoming Events ...... 24 Annex C: Region-Specific Information ...... 25 Annex D: Progress On Indicator Targets ...... 26 Annex F: Success Stories ...... 27
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) ii I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
After a year of following the highly contentious SUMMARY OF VISTAS PROGRAMMING implementation of the Agreement on Resolution Total # of Activities Cleared in FY16 114 of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS) the Total Value of Activities Cleared in FY16 $10,623,022 chasm between the signatories deepened and Total Value of Activities Completed in FY16 $8,706,153 the conflict escalated into previously unaffected Average Size of FY16 Activities $73,771 parts of South Sudan. FY2016 saw the near Program Funds Disbursed in FY16 $7,317,024 collapse of the economy with inflation rising by over 600% during the fiscal year, increased risk of war-induced famine as an estimated 4.8 million South Sudanese faced severe food shortages, and the controversial announcement of the 28 states, which to many was a clear violation of the terms of ARCISS and a signal for furthering the conflict.
January 2016 witnessed the return of the advance group of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (IO) party to Juba. This was to herald the implementation of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) with politicians from both sides of the aisle joining the unified government. The IO leader and then First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar finally landed in Juba in April with 1350 lightly armed forces and set up a base just outside of Juba. However, peace was short lived when fighting broke out on July 8th in the presidential palace between the two sides and resulted in a three day gun battle inside of Juba. Machar and the IO forces were subsequently evicted and forced to flee into the surrounding countryside. The SPLA helicopter gunships and ground forces pursued them, but they managed to cross the border into the DRC. UN personnel then picked them up and the Khartoum government later transported Dr. Machar and the remaining IO forces to Khartoum for medical treatment. Machar has since been removed from the TGoNU and replaced with Taban Deng Gai. ARCISS is now in deep peril, and war currently rages in parts of the Equatorias while threatening to break out across the country. During the Juba violence in July the US Embassy called for an ordered departure, which led to the relocation of the VISTAS international staff to Nairobi, where they will remain until the end of FY2016.
In this fluid and unstable context, VISTAS cleared 114 activities valued at approximately $10,623,022. In Northern Bahr El Ghazal (NBG), migration southward continued to improve but trade weakened due to South Sudan-Sudan border issues and devaluation of the South Sudanese Pound (SSP), which resulted in the economy and food security deteriorating dramatically. In Lakes State, VISTAS continued supporting traditional courts to manage blood compensation, adding more weight to the inter-Dinka dialogue to address decades of inter-communal violence. In Unity, VISTAS was able to work across citizens in conflict within the Protection of Civilian Site (POC) in Bentiu as well as in Panyijar County to the south in the IO held areas. In Upper Nile, the program became a key factor in the humanitarian and peacekeeping community work, improving relationships between the different ethnic groups of Internally Displaced Person (IDP) within the POC and beyond. In Jonglei, the Murle remained out of the national conflict but started their own internal conflict leading to the looting of the VISTAS office in Pibor town but saw further improvements in their relationship with the Lou Nuer. On the Dinka side, Bor saw significant involvement in traditional authorities and construction of cattle related infrastructure. In Juba, Morning Star continued to develop trauma awareness materials and completed the pilot project in selected sites across the country. ARCISS also continued to be disseminated in areas with strong partners and trusted relationships with the local authorities. Unfortunately, trust in the agreement continued to wane throughout the fiscal year.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 1
Since the October 2015 Strategic Review Session (SRS), VISTAS held two Rolling Assessments, including one in Nairobi, after the Juba violence. During this reporting period, VISTAS enhanced its program cycle management, human resources capacity and operational effectiveness by providing much needed training, investing in monitoring and evaluation, and competitively recruiting to fill capacity gaps within the program. These efforts aimed at ensuring that the program’s systems were keeping pace with the team’s expansion while working in South Sudan’s increasingly complex security situation.
Ongoing national conflict, high levels of crime in Juba, near collapse of the economy, and the relocation of staff to Nairobi created most challenging constraints to implementation of activities. As VISTAS considers a possible full return to Juba, it is also managing program demand in its existing regions and is aware of the ever-changing context and the security void in the country. These demands will only increase as ARCISS continues to be in jeopardy and largely unimplemented by the parties. VISTAS’ focus will require regular monitoring and re-calculations both strategically and geographically to operate safely and effectively in this fluid and unpredictable environment.
II. POLITICAL AND SECURITY LANDSCAPE
NATIONAL POLITICAL, SECURITY, AND OPERATIONAL LANDSCAPE FY 2016 saw considerable change in the political and security environment of South Sudan. Initially, the signing of ARCISS in August 2015 provided measured optimism that peace could be achieved, but despite Riek Machar’s return to Juba in April, the lack of implementation of key elements of the peace deal – such as demilitarization of Juba by the government – foreshadowed what was to come. The peace deal collapsed in all but name in July 2016, when government forces drove Riek Machar and his accompanying IO force out of Juba and pursued them through Central and Western Equatoria until they reached the DRC. July’s events were accompanied by well-documented abuses of civilian populations, particularly Nuer residing in Juba’s POCs. Those events combined with the plunging economy over the past year, have led to an increase in criminality and violent crime in Juba and elsewhere in the country, as well as increased harassment of media and civil society who are perceived to challenge the authority of the government.
The deteriorating economic situation is best exemplified by the street rate for SSP: US Dollar reaching 70:1 and inflation exceeding 600% by August 2016. The criminal activity, linked to poverty and hunger, has led to ever-increasing risks to VISTAS staff and operations. This situation spiked during Q1, particularly in Juba, with extortion by police at checkpoints, violent crime, and compound invasions of international organizations. It continued to escalate until Q2 when a Government Minister announced that any perpetrators caught would face a Military Tribunal, after which the incident rate dropped dramatically. In many ways, this seemed to confirm that a majority of the armed perpetrators were members of the security forces. An ongoing risk of a return to such levels of violent crime, especially against foreigners and foreign organizations, remains linked to the Government’s ability to pay the salaries of its security forces, which reportedly they have been doing by occasionally printing more SSP. This in turn continues to drive the economy into a downward spiral.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 2 Following continuous delays with the implementation of the ARCSS and from IO leadership, in the second week of April IO forces deployed to cantonment sites in Juba, and Riek Machar returned to Juba and was sworn in First Vice President. An uneasy calm, with a feeling of hope for peace followed. However, gradually, friction between the SPLA and IO began to surface. There were unconfirmed reports of attempted abductions and killings of IO officers. The pressure began to build until a clash at a checkpoint on July 7 resulted in a number of SPLA soldiers killed (with unconfirmed reports of civilians being killed in the crossfire). The President called Machar to the Republican Palace (J1) for a press conference, which was interrupted when gunfire erupted immediately outside. It is unclear as to what actually precipitated the clash but a sizeable number of SPLA and IO forces outside the gates of J1 engaged one another, with up to 300 reported killed. Two days later another clash near a checkpoint outside UN House is believed to have triggered all-out fighting between the IO cantoned near the Jebel and the SPLA. Heavy losses on the side of the SPLA revealed that the IO troops were well prepared for such an occasion. Tanks, artillery and helicopter gunships were employed by the SPLA during the two days of fighting that followed until the IO, with Riek Machar, withdrew from the city. Riek Machar along with his forces was pursued by the SPLA until they crossed into the DRC.
It was during those two days that Terrain Compound housing international aid workers close to the fighting was invaded by SPLA forces. These forced shot dead a Nuer staff member of an INGO, and raped- in some cases gang raped- at least five international female staff. An unknown number of national women were also present. The SPLA troops, some identified as wearing a Tiger’s Head patch (Tiger Battalion – Presidential Guard), made a point of singling out US citizens during their rampage, which lasted over four hours. The UNMISS forces stationed at UN House nearby did not respond to repeated calls for help from within the compound, or from those outside in communication with the victims.1 Although the Government created a tribunal to investigate the incident, no arrests or other action has been reported against the perpetrators.
The events of those two days precipitated the evacuation of VISTAS expatriate staff from South Sudan. Due to it being the July 4th and Muslim Eid long weekend holiday, only six expatriate staff were in Juba at the time, with an additional two staff and one consultant in the Regional Offices of Malakal, Bentiu and Aweil. Many other foreigners and nationals also fled Juba, a large portion of which had not returned by the end of this reporting period.
These events have created a “new normal” in South Sudan, and especially Juba. As has long been the case for South Sudanese civilians, the violent actions of the SPLA combined with the lack of prosecution has created an air of impunity, allowing for such crimes against aid workers to occur again. Continuing violence in the Equatorias, including on the road routes to Uganda and Kenya, mean that the only point of entry and departure from Juba remains the airport, which was not operational during the fighting. Moves to establish a “Regional Protection Force” (RPF) of 4000 additional UNMISS troops, with a stronger mandate to protect civilians, has faced objection and delays from the Government. Given concerns about the performance of UNMISS and government road blocks, it is generally being perceived that even if the RPF is eventually deployed, it will not be effective in carrying out its mandate.
1 Patinkin, J. (2016, August 15). Rampaging South Sudan troops raped foreigners, killed local. Retrieved from http://bigstory.ap.org/article/237fa4c447d74698804be210512c3ed1/rampaging-south-sudan-troops-raped-foreigners-killed-local
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Outside of Juba, the single greatest change to the security situation during FY16 was drawing the Equatorias into the conflict. What began as SPLA heavy-handed responses to Equatorians attempting to protect their farms and property from encroaching Dinka cattle herders evolved into widespread opposition battles mirroring those fought by the Nuer, Murle and Shilluk elsewhere since the beginning of this civil war in 2013. Previously peaceful towns such as Yambio, Mundri, Kajo Keji and Yei witnessed anti-government dissent and violence. As at the end of the reporting period, Yei in particular has become the focus for violence and reports of atrocities carried out by the SPLA.
FY16 proved tumultuous for South Sudan with the conflict dynamics having shifted to taking a more ethnic turn, pitting the ruling Dinka dominated government in the country against the Nuer and Equatorian population. Most non-Dinka consider that ARCISS in its current form cannot be fully implemented without credible IO representation most plausibly represented by Riek Machar. Leading into the next year there is much uncertainty and a deep lack of trust and/or hope in the future.
POLITICAL & SECURITY LANDSCAPE IN VISTAS REGIONAL OFFICES EQUATORIAS While there was a sense of optimism in the Equatorias after the signing of ARCISS in August 2015, ultimately the terms of the ARCISS negatively affected much of the Equatorias in FY16. This occurred as a result of poorly defined transitional security arrangements, leading to an increase in militia groups professing loyalty to IO in the hopes of receiving some benefits from the peace deal (from which they were otherwise fully excluded). The SPLA reacted strongly against any signs of rebellion – even if there was little to no actual use of force by non-government armed actors. Mundri, Yambio, Kajo-Keji, Maridi and now Yei have all been victimized by heavy-handed SPLA responses to the threat of rebellion or IO presence. Communities in Mundri and Maridi regions were further devastated by the helicopter gunships and ground-troops that pursued Riek Machar and his IO forces following the outbreak of violence in Juba in July.
The result for VISTAS was a tightening of programmatic space, especially since the July violence in Juba. Security concerns in Juba and shifting patterns of conflict in the Equatorias have limited the types of events VISTAS can support, while restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of association have brought ever-closer government control and scrutiny to other programs.
JONGLEI The main political event that occurred during the reporting period included the establishment of 28 states, leading to separation of Nuer, Dinka and Murle into different states. While this did not lead to any improvement in the Murle-Dinka relationship, it helped to put a buffer zone between the Dinka and Nuer population.
Greater Pibor Administrative Area’s (GPAA) former Chief Administrator, David Yau Yau, who was anticipated by the community to lead the newly established Boma State, was appointed the Deputy Minister of Defense, while the pro-government Baba Medan was appointed to be the Governor of Boma State. Despite his origin from and roots in Lekuangole County of Greater Pibor, Baba Medan has been
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 4 widely unpopular among Murle due to his role in the government’s fight against David Yau Yau’s South Sudan Democratic Movement (SSDM) Cobra Faction during 2013. Since his appointment as Governor of Boma State, Baba Medan has been unable to gain the needed support from Murle to govern the state in a unified manner.
After the July 8 events, SSDM-Cobra Faction officially announced their allegiance to IO. The position of Cobra Faction in the current conflict can potentially turn Greater Pibor into one of the frontlines for fighting between the government and IO, which in turn will have an adverse effect on VISTAS programing due to an increased insecurity in the region.
July 8th events also triggered mobilization of IO and white army troops in Yuai, Akobo West County to march on Juba through Pajut and Bor in Jonglei. On August 20, 2016, white army and IO forces launched an unsuccessful attack on the SPLA military positions in Pajut and had to retreat due to lack of ammunition.
Recent tensions between the government and the IO has not had a significant effect on VISTAS programming in Greater Akobo, with the exception of logistical challenges in procurement and transport of supplies to the region.
LAKES Being a government stronghold, Lakes was largely unaffected by fighting between government and opposition forces, however cattle rustling, revenge killing and the creation of 28 states- which formed three new states within Lakes namely Gok, Western and Eastern Lakes- remained the main causes of instability in the region.
National level conflict in the Equatorias and worsening economy did severely affect the implementation of grant activities in the region as supplies from Juba were delayed at times because of unavailability of items and supply routes being blocked.
NORTHERN BAHR EL GHAZAL (NBG) The establishment of the three new controversial states of Aweil, Aweil East and Lol States from the former NBG in October 2015 created animosity among the people of the region. The result was that political infighting ensued between the newly appointed governors and the former governor Gen. Paul Malong over the SPLM Chairmanship for the three states. The region’s inhabitants have been forced to take sides based on their allegiance to the different governors. In the case of Lol State, an uprising led by the Fertit community in Raja almost led to the killing of their governor Rizig Zacharia in June, forcing the inhabitants of Raja town flee to NBG. This movement was not only restricted to the inhabitants but also their leadership who have since set up a temporary base in Nyamlel county, NBG.
For VISTAS, the creation of new states meant having to deal with three different state governments simultaneously for implementation of activities, which proved to be much harder as all three are vying for resources and coordination among them is much more difficult as the government of Lol is at odds with that of Aweil and Aweil East. Furthermore, the closure of the border with Sudan for most of year
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 5 meant that very few items could be procured in the Aweil market, continually delaying grant implementation.
UNITY The period between October 2015 and July 2016 saw relative stability return to Unity State after the horrors of early/mid 2015. This stability was promising, as it would have allowed VISTAS to expand their programming in the state outside of the ‘safe’ areas of Panyijiar in the South and the POC site in Rubkona County. In May and June of 2016, the Unity team had begun to plan an expansion of activities and activity types. The appointment of Stephen Buay as commander of division 4 was instrumental to this change as he was widely respected and trusted on both sides of the politico ethnic divide and cracked down on predation on the IDP population.
The return to civil war in July 2016 (and the earlier dismissal and arrest of Stephen Buay) dashed these hopes. Planned geographic and thematic expansion of activities have been put on hold as forces allied to the government and IO have clashed throughout the state – particularly in parts of Leer and Mayendit. The defection of Taban Deng to the government after the July incident further clouded the political landscape, throwing into doubt foundational alliances between the government and the Bul Nuer, and the Bul and other Nuer clans in the state. Both the political and security situation in the state are febrile and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
UPPER NILE Significant fallout from two major events during FY16 period will continue to impact VISTAS engagement into the future. First, an organized attack on the Malakal Protection of Civilians (POC) camp in February 2016 changed the operational and programmatic environment in several key ways: Dinka inhabitants of the POC were involved in the attacks on their Nuer and Shilluk IDP counterparts, and subsequently caused the evacuation of the POC. The attacks, which were endorsed (if not facilitated) by the governing SPLA, revealed the vulnerability of the IDP community and the inability of the UN to carry out its Chapter VII mandate. These circumstances challenged VISTAS ability to implement cross-ethnic programming, as the Shilluk and Nuer communities refused to leave the POC and the Dinka refused to enter. In response, VISTAS expanded activities to engage all communities in the vicinity, both within and beyond the UN base.
The second major transformation radiated outward from Juba following the outburst of violence in July 2016. The retreat of the IO from Juba and the ensuing collapse of the peace agreement rapidly sharpened ethnic polarization between the Dinka and all minority ethnic groups, who continue to perceive government aggression as a crude means of consolidating Dinka rule throughout the country. It is anticipated that rising animosity between minority groups and the Dinka majority will inevitably inhibit movement and therefore impede VISTAS ability to implement inter-communal activities in Upper Nile. Cleavages with the IO have exacerbated post-July by Taban Deng’s defection to the government. Nuer staff in Upper Nile fear travel to Juba due not only to potential Dinka reprisals, but also to inter-Nuer hostility generated by these political rifts.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 6 III. PROGRAM STRATEGY VISTAS Program Goal, as articulated in the 2015 VISTAS CRITERIA FOR ENGAGEMENT Strategic Review Session (SRS), is to mitigate the 1. Is there a local level conflict that, if it blows up, further spread of communal violence and rising has national implications? Is there national tensions in critical areas where conflict may have conflict that will trickle down to the local level that will have national implications? national implications. The VISTAS strategy is based 2. Can VISTAS make a difference? [Can we on an assessment that South Sudan is currently mitigate, prevent, or reverse the problem? experiencing three levels of interconnected conflict: Addressing the overall issue, not just making a 1) conflict between the political and military elites difference in individual lives.] in the SPLM/A; 2) community-level conflict mostly a. What if it’s only a really small window for programming? over access to resources (including cattle, land, b. Is there willingness of the local actors to pasture, and water); and 3) conflicts characterized engage? as ‘citizen vs state,’ comprising of populations that 3. If yes, should we engage? Are there other feel marginalized and aggrieved by the national or players that are better positioned to make a state level governments. difference? 4. Contractual = complies with AECOM’s contract, legal and policy VISTAS supports both national and local-level considerations/Operational/Security stabilization and transition efforts targeted at considerations, e.g. we have the capacity to recovery by mitigating political and social volatility address this issue, we can access the area, etc.) and reducing vulnerability to violence. VISTAS 5. *USG Priorities – a direct request from USG program objectives for FY16 remained largely the same as FY15 and were as follows: A. To increase space and tools to manage conflict and tensions. B. To promote a more informed community. C. To build cross-line interdependency to promote peaceful coexistence. D. To engage communities in trauma awareness to lay the foundation for healing and reconciliation.
In FY16, VISTAS continued to operate at the community level, focusing on key fault lines in the current conflict. The target areas were the South Sudan-Sudan border in NBG, the inter Dinka conflict lines in Lakes and the Nuer-Murle-Dinka borders in Jonglei State. In addition, VISTAS programmed in POCs in the three capitals of Greater Upper Nile (Bentiu, Malakal, and Bor), as well as in Yambio and Juba.
Given the broadening conflict and increased demand for VISTAS by USAID and the local South Sudanese population, the program introduced stricter criteria for engagement during the 2015 SRS that VISTAS inferred on during FY16. The following determined if new areas or issues were within VISTAS manageable interest: what the program realistically can undertake (geographically or thematically) given staffing levels, workload, technical abilities, professional expertise, and the ability to monitor and evaluate activities.
Applying these criteria during the deep dives, VISTAS analyzed conflicts in other ‘hot spots’ in the country and decided it was both within VISTAS manageable interests and that given the nature of the conflicts in specific areas like Eastern, Central and Western Equatoria, VISTAS intervention was warranted. VISTAS carried out a scoping mission to, Mundri, and Yambio in early 2016 to better understand the context and actors. These assessments confirmed assumptions about the drivers of conflict, and as a result, during FY16 VISTAS expanded the Juba program into other parts of Central
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 7 Equatoria, starting with Yambio. While VISTAS has limited influence over security forces, the program has the potential to address underlying ethnic tensions between pastoralists and host communities in these areas that have a tendency to spark wider violence and draw in security forces. Through a desk review and analysis of the context, VISTAS decided to focus on improving access to reliable, accurate information and supporting peace dialogues to promote improved community relationships (in this case between Dinka pastoralists and Equatorian communities) and in turn VISTAS begun developing several activities, including support to peace dialogues and to the documentation of human rights violations.
In FY16, VISTAS brought in a Gender Advisor to help the program better incorporate gender considerations into its strategy and activities. The advisor conducted an assessment of gender-based constraints and opportunities related to further addressing women’s roles in conflict mitigation. The assessment also focused on how to incorporate women’s perspectives more holistically in community- based reconciliation activities and efforts to manage drivers of conflict. Additionally, VISTAS decided to focus some targeted activities in Pagak, Upper Nile State, where the IO had its base and was the hub for major influx of refugees and IDPs moving in and out of South Sudan. VISTAS focused on increasing access to neutral and credible information in and around the Pagak area. Over the FY16, VISTAS team agreed to change the name of the Wunlit region to Lakes region as VISTAS was no longer prioritizing the Wunlit triangle, but rather focused on inter-Dinka dynamics and conflict along the Nuer-Dinka border in Lakes and inter-Nuer dynamics in Unity.
During FY16 Q3, VISTAS also undertook comprehensive efforts to evaluate how new program processes and systems were working and where regional teams needed additional support. A Senior Technical Manager (STM) was brought on board who worked with all of the Regional Program Managers and the Senior Management Team (SMT) to determine program support needs. In order to address these needs and provide support to the field teams, the STM, in consultation with the VISTAS team, designed a training for the program teams that among other things, reviewed the regional strategies, activity design and development of strategic activities and lessons learned. Trainings were delivered by the STM in the regions with the teams in the following order: Malakal, Bor, Rumbek, Aweil, Akobo, and Juba (including Morning Star team). The trainings were very well received by team members across all regions who indicated that the training had led them to have a better grasp of the program, which would help in the design of more effective grants in the future.
In an effort to reinforce this information with teams, several of these topics were also reviewed during the monthly Regional Program Manager meetings. Additionally, during the Rolling Assessment in July 2016, several topics, including strategy revisions/renewals, communication, and lessons learned were discussed.
In the last three months of FY16 (July, August, and September), VISTAS programming was disrupted by the violence that erupted in July 2016 which led to all the expatriate members of team being relocated to Nairobi. The teams on ground in South Sudan, resumed implementation of activities in August while being remotely managed by their supervisors.
Going forward, VISTAS plans to continue to prioritize program learning, especially the design of strategic activities and improved program targeting. In the first quarter of FY17, VISTAS plans to hold the annual SRS to review its current programming strategy and determine if there is a need to revise it owing to the new operational reality and other programming challenges the fighting in July has brought.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 8 IV. PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
TO INCREASE SPACE AND TOOLS TO MANAGE CONFLICT AND TENSIONS VISTAS uses peace dialogues to reaffirm the legitimacy of community leadership and customary authorities, in particular to mitigate conflicts and manage local agreements often over shared natural resources and access to markets. VISTAS reinforces progress in strengthening intercommunal relationships through peace dialogues by supporting activities that provide mutual economic and social benefits to communities.
Under this objective, VISTAS implemented 56 projects worth $4,286,180 in FY16. Activities included providing support for inter and intra- tribal peace dialogues, commissioned research on community perceptions, public lectures on issues such as transitional justice, support to small-scale infrastructure activities, school debates on peace and reconciliation, and university lectures in POCs. Some of the key activities under this objective are highlighted PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING THE PEACE DIALOGUE IN THE MALAKAL POC – below. PHOTO BY VINCENT VALDMANIS
In FY16 Q1, VISTAS commissioned research through the South Sudan Law Society to better understand community perceptions of conflict in the Malakal POC. The study revealed that the conflict had generated deep distrust between the three major ethnic groups in the camp: Shilluk, Nuer and Dinka. Views on responsibility for atrocities were deeply politicized and the people in the camp expressed little confidence that the crisis could be resolved without sustained international support. However, while the research found high levels of polarization between communities, a significant majority of youth under age 25, from all ethnic groups expressed a willingness to forgive.
In line with research findings related to deep inter-communal mistrust and skepticism of local justice systems, VISTAS supported a series of dialogues between leaders of the three major ethnic groups in Malakal who served on the local Peace and Security Council; a key consultative and decision-making body in a region with no effective government. The dialogues proposed a series of reforms to community-level and traditional governance groups. These reforms were then adopted and among the measures, was the establishment of an independent body with elected, rotating membership responsible for monitoring implementation of the resolutions.
In Lakes State, VISTAS initiated an innovative approach to engage young women through peace building and conflict prevention debates in a local secondary school. The program launched this pilot activity in partnership with faculty and students at Loreto Girls Secondary School. This series of debates, which was entitled “Civilian Disarmament Will Bring Peace in Lakes State,” centered on the core factors that caused communal conflict, while highlighting the role of women in promoting peace and mitigating conflict. VISTAS also supported exchange visits between the students of Loreto Girl’s Secondary School and other
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 9 secondary schools within Lakes State under this activity. These debates provided a neutral platform for students from communities experiencing ongoing conflict to share their experiences.
In FY16 Q2, VISTAS supported a number of activities to increase space for public discussions and information sharing in Juba. These included lectures for university students in the Juba POC in partnership with a local NGO - the Gender Equity and Women’s Leadership Program. Lectures began early January 2016, and by the end of FY16, there were 500 students enrolled in courses covering computer skills, literature, and South Sudanese culture. Most students are male STUDENTS TAKING COMPUTER COURSES IN THE Nuer youth who were unable to continue JUBA POC- PHOTO BY JUDITH DORUBA their university courses because it was unsafe for them to leave the POC. The courses offer one of the few peaceful outlets available to the youth within the POC to build skills and express themselves.
During Q3, VISTAS worked with a dynamic grantee, South Sudan Wrestling Entertainment, to host the first national wrestling tournament since the onset of the crisis in December 2013. The tournament brought together teams from Lakes, Jonglei, Central and Eastern Equatoria who competed in a total of six matches between April 16 and 23rd, with each match consisting of 15 rounds between opposing wrestlers. Five of the six matches had a turnout of more than 2,000 people each, while the teams came with large groups of supporters in traditional dresses, who helped cheer their teams with songs and dances. While the tournament pitted teams from different ethnic groups against each other, the event brought people together to celebrate their common culture in a safe environment. The Dinka Bor team from Jonglei defeated the Mundari team from Central Equatoria in the final match – but the teams then proceeded to celebrate together the following night. One of the wrestlers from Jonglei stated, “This wrestling tournament has built relations among the wrestlers and I believe that as a wrestler, I can now move freely from Bor up to Terekeka without any fear because I have built friendships with other wrestlers from the other tribes.” The wrestlers were almost all cattle- camp youth who would normally have A DINKA BOR WRESTLER STRUTS AROUND THE STADIUM BEFORE ENTERING THE RING. THEIR TEAM WOULD GO ON TO WIN THE TOURNAMENT little opportunity to interact with other – PHOTO BY JUDITH DORUBA ethnic groups.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 10 TO BUILD CROSS-LINE INTERDEPENDENCY TO PROMOTE PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE Interdependency through livestock and trade have a long history of connecting communities in South Sudan and facilitates relationships across conflict lines. Trade is effective in connecting communities and facilitating mutual benefits and relationships across communities in conflict. Communities have resisted being mobilized for violence across conflict lines because of their need for interdependency. Under this objective, in FY16 VISTAS implemented 19 projects worth $2,128,460. The range of activities included, building cross-border livestock complexes, joint traditional authorities’ courts, providing fishery equipment and holding dialogues focusing on trade and animal migration. Some of these activities are highlighted below.
INTER-COMMUNAL PEACE DIALOGUES IN NBEG- PHOTO BY SANTINO BOL Building on the program’s support to successful migration and trade arrangements in NBG during FY16 along the border with Sudan, VISTAS supported inter-communal peace dialogues between the trio border communities of Rizeigat and Misseriya from Sudan and the Dinka Malual of South Sudan. These dialogues included annual pre-migration conferences in January and February of 2016, and were attended by 449 delegates nominated by the three communities. 201 delegates attended the Dinka Malual- Misseriya peace dialogue, while 248 attended the Dinka Malual-Rizeigat peace dialogue. The meetings were led by chiefs, Joint Border Peace Committee (JBPC) members, and other community leaders. They reviewed previous resolutions, reflected on the lessons learned from the previous year’s migration, resolved pending cases that had the potential to escalate tensions, and agreed upon and adopted resolutions covering many aspects of 2016 dry season cattle migration including tariffs, trade, resource management and penalties for different crimes.
Due to the efforts of the JBPC, the trio communities were able to resolve all their outstanding issues during the migration season. The issues included killings, livestock thefts and property destruction, which were settled amicably through compensation instead of revenge attacks. For just one of the incidents resolved, over 108 stolen cattle were recovered and returned to the Sudanese pastoralists by the host Dinka community in coordination with the local authorities. This was indicative of the community’s desire to continue enjoying peaceful co-existence with their neighbors from the north.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 11 particularly during the cattle migration season.
HANDOVER OF CANOES TO TRADERS AND FISHERMEN IN PIBOR TOWN- - PHOTO BY KIRILL CHUPAKHIN During Q2, VISTAS distributed canoes to the Nuer youth of Akobo County and the Murle of Lekuangole and Pibor counties in Jonglei State. The purpose was to strengthen the mutually beneficial, historical trade ties between the rival Nuer and the Murle communities. Both communities have resisted being mobilized for violence across fault lines because of their mutual need for trade.
In August 2016, VISTAS completed the construction of two livestock & trade support complexes in Wanyjok, Aweil East County and in Marialbaai, Aweil West County, NBG to boost trade among the border communities. These structures were constructed as a request from the communities and Mading Aweil Community Animal Health Workers Association in a bid to enhance trade along Sudan – South Sudan border. These shared resources between the border communities are expected to strengthen their peaceful co-existence and pave the way sustainable peaceful interactions between the communities. The complexes also provided women a platform to improve their livelihood through the market space given to them for selling milk and vegetables.
TO PROMOTE A MORE INFORMED COMMUNITY VISTAS promotes access to reliable and trustworthy information for communities in critical areas in order to mitigate misinformation that could lead to further tensions and conflict. Under this objective, VISTAS implemented 21 projects worth $1,963,110 in FY16. The type of activities included dissemination and discussion of ARCISS through radio programming and public lectures, construction of radio stations and distribution of shortwave radios.
During the reporting period, VISTAS WOMEN’S VEGETABLE SELLERS POSE FOR PICTURES – PHOTO BY SANTINO BOL supported the dissemination of ARCISS along with thousands of windup radios across several regions where it programs; in both government and opposition held areas.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 12 In Jonglei, the windup radios and peace agreement were distributed to the residents of Bor POC who were mostly Nuer, and also to the mostly Dinka community of Bor town. VISTAS supported radio talk shows discussing ARCISS were aired in local languages, and public discussions were held at the John Garang University in Bor. These activities were done to further emphasize peace messages and dispel propaganda against the peace deal by a cross-section of political leaders from the community.
In Malakal, VISTAS distributed English and Arabic translations of the peace agreement inside the Malakal POC to youth leaders during a conflict resolution workshop, and supported an Intergovernmental Agency for Development (IGAD) representative to conduct Q&A exchanges in the camp.
In Bentiu, VISTAS also facilitated discussions on the peace agreement. The dissemination process was facilitated by the Elders Advisory Committee. The participants keenly discussed the main provisions of the agreement i.e. security arrangements, Hybrid Court and power sharing especially at the state level. Another point of focus was the methodology chosen by IGAD for allocating the national ministries between the two parties.
During FY16, VISTAS also worked with Eye Radio to develop shortwave broadcasts that covered all of South Sudan. This is the only South Sudan focused shortwave broadcaster in the country and broadcasts in both English and Arabic, as well as in a different “language of the day”, six days a week. The language of the day is rotated between Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Zande, Bari and Lotuho. Early feedback included reports of the broadcast being listened to in a number of remote areas. Feedback came from as far as Rumaker, Aweil East in NBG, a remote town without telephone or internet coverage. The listeners stated that they depended on Eye Radio shortwave for information from Juba.
In Lakes State, VISTAS supported a radio program aimed at halting revenge killings and cattle raiding by fostering positive relationships between youth from different Dinka communities. The radio program, which was themed “Let’s build our nation” broadcasted from Good News Radio Station, elicited hope among listeners from different Dinka communities and generated a lot of interest garnering over 100 repeat callers who tuned in frequently to the program. The radio program resulted in the youth callers forming their own organization called Lakes State Media Peace Promoters Association. The association is aimed at recruiting more youth to articulate issues affecting their communities and identifying peaceful mechanisms to resolve them. To amplify the radio program, VISTAS distributed over 3,000 wind-up radios to expand access to this new programming to women and youth in remote cattle camps.
In Juba, VISTAS supported girl guides under the National Girl Guide structure to create “peace ambassadors”. This was achieved through the provision of peace and promise badges, as well as the development of an activity pack, teaching leaders how to train the girls to become peace ambassadors. The Guides awarded the Peace Badge to 4,915 girls who received lessons on peacebuilding GIRL GUIDES AND GIRL SCOUT PEACE AMBASSADORS EARN THEIR PEACE BADGES - PHOTO BY IYIEL DAUD
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 13 and were able to demonstrate the ability to share the concept with others in English, Arabic or their mother tongues.
In Lakes State, VISTAS supported a four-day workshop on South Sudan’s media laws, during which participants drafted a code of conduct and ethics for local journalists under the theme "access to accurate information is our right." Forty four local journalists from a number different media houses and representatives of local civil society participated in the event. The workshop provided a platform for the journalists and government officials, PARTICIPANTS IN A LAKES STATE JOURNALISTS’ TRAINING WORKSHOP including the state governors, to discuss the – PHOTO BY VISTAS TEAM challenges journalists face and identify collaborative approaches. A number of reporters took advantage of the opportunity to challenge the government to provide space for balanced reporting, including criticism for poor governance. They presented the state government with a petition for an end to restrictions on their work and mistreatment, which was incompatible with the national media law.
During the reporting period, VISTAS enabled the construction of Jonglei FM radio station to extend and improve the provision of accurate and independent information and peace messaging to vulnerable communities across Jonglei state.
In Q1 of FY16, VISTAS supported the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) in digitizing a portion of the South Sudan National Archive. The support included the provision of five new scanners, expansion and refurbishment of RVI office space in Juba and payment of stipends for student volunteers to scan the records. With VISTAS support, the total number of pages of South Sudan’s national archive digitized records increased from 104,240 to 247,772. VISTAS thus played a key role in preserving documents that will serve as a resource for generations of South Sudanese scholars and citizens.
TO ENGAGE COMMUNITIES IN TRAUMA AWARENESS TO LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR HEALING AND RECONCILIATION VISTAS helps communities understand how trauma has perpetuated historical tensions so that they can begin to bridge these divides, paving the way to reconciliation. Under this objective, VISTAS implemented 16 projects worth $2,132,094 in FY16.
Morning star (MS), VISTAS Trauma – Informed Community Empowerment (TICE) program, made major strides in FY16 to achieve its main objective of engaging communities in trauma awareness by taking an intensive look into their programming approaches and their efficacy. In this regard, MS contracted an external consulting firm, Forcier to conduct an external evaluation, which commenced in December 2015 to:
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 14 a.) Monitor and evaluate perceptions, attitudes and impacts of Morning Star throughout the pilot program and post-pilot phase. b.) Inform MS, VISTAS and other stakeholders about the success, benefits and challenges of the program.
Findings of the final report validated the need and relevancy of a trauma awareness program in South Sudan. In addition, most of the conclusions from the report matched the initial assumptions and conclusions of the VISTAS M&E department. “Out of 115 respondents at the end-of-pilot survey, who were not part of the Morning Star program, 93.9% wished to partake in Morning Star activities; 100% out of the 105 respondents in the same category in the post-pilot survey demonstrated the need to participate as well.” PARTICIPANTS OF MS 5-DAY TRAUMA AWARENESS SESSION (MOR026) FROM YEI ON MARCH 22, 2016 DISPLAYING THEIR CERTIFICATES- PHOTO BY SUSAN MONTGOMERY In FY16 Q1, MS implemented the 12- week pilot phase from November 2015 to February 2016 across twelve different locations in South Sudan. Community based organizations from each location were supported through an in-kind grant mechanism to support facilitators of the trauma awareness activities. As a result of the community conversations, 180 participants were exposed to trauma awareness messages. However, available reports from the implementation of the program provided several lessons that MS needed to incorporate to make the program more effective. Some of the lessons related to inadequate knowledge on the subject and insufficient facilitations skills among some of the facilitators. On the management aspects, there were challenges in providing technical support, supervision and monitoring of the program outside Juba, particularly in locations with no VISTAS office. It is important to note that the 12- week community conversation was implemented independent of other VISTAS activities, failing to potentially integrate trauma awareness into the VISTAS regional programming.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 15 In FY16 Q2, as a response to the challenges faced during the 12-week community conversations, MS opted to restructure their 12-day model to five day-trauma awareness sessions. The five- day tool is an information giving tool, providing participants with knowledge about trauma, essential information on its causes and consequences, impact on individuals and communities and offering mechanisms for dealing with the trauma. It was implemented with five different DETAIL FROM THE 12-WEEK TRAUMA AWARENESS SESSION IN AKOBO, JONGLEI youth groups in Akobo, religious leaders STATE, JANUARY 2016. PHOTO BY: CHUOL YIEN CHAOT in Yei, members of theater groups in Juba, and two groups of POC residents in Juba. Overall, 125 participants were reached in four months. The five-day trauma awareness tool was deemed as an effective new tool to reach a larger number of people with trauma awareness.
In order to incorporate lessons learned and address the challenges in MS programming from FY16, during the next quarter, MS will prioritize the recruitment and training of a qualified team of master trainers to implement activities. Facilitators will be embedded with VISTAS regional teams to better integrate trauma awareness activities into wider VISTAS programming.
SUPPORT TO WOMEN In FY 16, VISTAS Gender Advisor conducted a three-week assessment and provided guidance to the team to help them more strategically integrate gender into project activities. As a result, the regional offices developed several activities to strategically support the role of women in conflict mitigation.
On March 12, 2016, VISTAS assisted the Girl Guides Association of South Sudan to host an International Women’s Day Event in Juba, with a theme of “Women’s Role in Leadership and Peacebuilding.” More than 400 participants, 222 of whom were Girl Guides, attended the event. It featured singing, dancing, poetry and drama presented by the Guides, celebrating the role of women in South Sudanese life.
In Unity, where the conflict has bifurcated the society along government - opposition and clan - clan lines, VISTAS GIRL GUIDES ENROUTE TO THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY EVENT UNDER JBA037. implemented an activity to strengthen the role of women in PHOTO BY RICHARD HOFFMAN (USAID) conflict mitigation, in partnership with another NGO, Nonviolent Peaceforce. The two organizations
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 16 supported a series of meetings with women leaders from the Bentiu POC to identify conflict mitigation strategies that women in the POC camp could champion.
V. IMPACT In FY16, VISTAS program achieved protracted gains at the national and local-level in stabilization and transition efforts. The gains contributed towards mitigating political and social volatility in areas of VISTAS operational context.
In Upper Nile, VISTAS contributed towards building trust within the local community. Through VISTAS supported peace dialogues in Malakal POC, the VISTAS team learnt that significant political divisions existed among the Nuer of Upper Nile, a fact with far-reaching implications for local peace making. The regional offices of other international organizations and UNMISS were unaware of these divisions, which directly affected the participation of the Nuer in inter-communal reconciliation initiatives. As a result, VISTAS developed activities aimed at rebuilding the Peace and Security Council within the Malakal POC.
VISTAS played a central role in facilitating constructive interaction between the Shilluk, Dinka, and Nuer communities in the Malakal POC. The reasons for this were twofold. Firstly, VISTAS’ presence in the POC was consistent even when other humanitarian actors evacuated due to security concerns and logistical challenges. This earned the program tremendous credibility among leaders of all three ethnic groups and amongst the international community. Secondly, VISTAS programming focused on building relationships between the leadership of each the three groups. The program was able to pull off a series of very contentious dialogues about community governance in Malakal because the team earned the communities’ trust as a neutral broker. This credibility resulted in requests from the three communities and UNMISS that VISTAS work to repair the relations between the groups in the aftermath of the violence in the POC camp in February 2016.
As a result of the aforementioned initiatives, there was a marked increase in engagement between groups who had harbored historical grievances. In the Malakal POC, Nuer and Shilluk relations improved considerably. On the east side of Upper Nile, VISTAS had been very effective at addressing the trust deficit between Nuer subtribes. This was an important achievement, as the Nuer had a historic propensity for intra-communal conflict. These cleavages had been easily manipulated by political opponents, resulting in sustained periods of antagonistic relations. VISTAS activities in the region thus elicited a positive local response from all participating communities in the area.
In Jonglei, community level, traditional governance structures were strengthened and cross-line interdependency to promote peaceful coexistence was built through cross border trade between the Dinka and Nuer communities. VISTAS support to traditional leadership mechanisms restored their authority and legitimacy in the eyes of the local population. For example, the Greater Bor Dinka conference that the program sponsored in early May 2016 resulted in the creation of a standing committee of chiefs, elders, youth, traders, women, and religious leaders who were tasked with standardizing the customary law of the Greater Bor Dinka community with South Sudan’s statutory laws.
VISTAS programming reinforced this peace by supporting the construction of a livestock trade and auction building and three cow pens along the Bor - Pajut corridor during Q2 of FY16. Dinka and Nuer
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 17 communities on both sides were deterred against fighting because it would lead to destruction of this infrastructure that was a source of livelihood for both communities. VISTAS constructed these infrastructures in tandem with peace dialogues bringing together leaders from both communities.
In Juba, VISTAS programming resulted in positive signs of cross-community engagement through public lectures at the Catholic University, an inter-ethnic wrestling tournament, a chiefs meeting organized by the Rift Valley Institute, and an International Women’s Day event done with the Girl Guides. The aforementioned activities were intended as an indirect alternative to direct peace meetings with the intent of reducing mistrust between communities. However, VISTAS did not succeed in reducing mistrust between communities in Juba as a whole, as national level dynamics undermined our efforts. Certain activities sponsored public discussions and information sharing; however, their impact was unable to make a difference to the larger picture, where once again government level issues such as suppression of civil society and journalism led to a more restrictive environment over the past year than existed previously.
In FY16 Q3, VISTAS activities in the Equatorias, showed great success in building relationships among different communities. The relationship established between the Mundari and Dinka Bor teams during the wrestling tournament supported by VISTAS were reported by the community to be critical in solving a bout of cattle raiding that broke out between the communities in May. Meanwhile, the lectures for university students in Juba POC were spoken of by participants as something that helped them deal with their “trauma” of being in the POC for such a long time with few healthy outlets available to them. Of note – in the violence, which has started in July – there were no serious reports of mobilization of youth in the Juba POC to join the SPLA-IO. VISTAS realized that the activity could not have played the most critical role in reducing mobilization – but it was likely a contributing factor along with activities sponsored by other partners.
In Unity, VISTAS was on the forefront of the dissemination of ARCISS in FY16 Q1. The program structured these activities so that local communities understood that VISTAS facilitated community discussions, rather than presented, endorsed, or otherwise advocated for the agreement. The community response was extremely positive, and delegates immediately began briefing their wider communities. These activities were coordinated with UNMISS and IGAD, both of whom gave positive feedback.
Where VISTAS success was lasting was within communities. Particularly within the POC and in Southern Unity. VISTAS enriched the community in the POC in many ways, most recently with sports themed activities, and was successful in productively engaging youth, assisting in boosting incomes and supporting livelihoods activities; providing for greater opportunity for youth and adults alike. In Southern Unity, VISTAS was successful with peace dialogues supporting conflict management and mitigation and lessening friction between communities.
In Northern Bahr el Ghazal, VISTAS continued to play a pivotal role in ensuring peaceful cattle migration from East Darfur and South Kordofan into South Sudan. Cross-border migration conferences and Joint Border Peace Committees’ which were both enabled by VISTAS programming, continued to serve as the means for preempting and addressing any potential conflict arising between the trio border communities of Rizeigat, Dinka Malaul and Misseriya. This has been made possible through our activities including but not limited to hard activities like construction grants and soft activities like the migration conferences.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 18 In Lakes State, VISTAS did programming in support of mitigating internal conflict in Rumbek town and interstate conflicts in the Wunlit region. During the course of FY16 Q3, the team received positive feedback on the activities completed in FY16 Q2, in Rumbek East County where the program had given support to the peace dialogues among the different warring communities across the region. The state officials and community leaders were especially grateful for VISTAS’ contribution to program stability in greater Akot Payams.
For Morning Star Program, the external evaluation of the 12-week pilot phase concluded that participants of Morning Star activities without exception shared the information and trauma awareness content equally with their family members and community members, making the actual numbers of beneficiaries for each activity much higher. Therefore, the main achieved outcome of MS activities, raising trauma awareness on community level, in communities where MS was present was achieved. Furthermore, based on external evaluation report and evaluations conducted following each session, participants highly appreciated the program, emphasized its importance in the South Sudan context, and expressed need for further trauma awareness activities.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 19 VI. MONITORING & EVALUATION FY16 saw VISTAS improve the quality of its M&E systems by adding more M&E officers, strengthening activity level M&E tools, conducting two external reviews, a cluster evaluation and prepare for an external midterm program evaluation.
Three new M&E field officers were brought on board to ensure that all regional teams had a designated M&E specialist embedded with them to work on M&E plans and evaluation of activities in each region. VISTAS also hired an M&E Manager who took charge of the M&E team.
During the second quarter of FY16, VISTAS brought an OTI M&E Advisor on board who spent three weeks assessing the program’s overall M&E approach and provided recommendations, trained staff, and help design a cluster evaluation and a case study, in close collaboration with the VISTAS team. The advisor, who had worked with the program in 2014, noted marked improvements in both the quality and quantity of information in the database and other program documents. However, she identified the need for further improvement in the activity design process. The advisor assessed that outcome objectives were sometimes unrealistic and went beyond the scope of the activity. Finally, she identified a need for M&E to take place throughout the life of an activity, whereas most M&E information was being gathered after the activity was completed.
In the light of the recommendations from the M&E advisor, VISTAS also hired a short-term external consultant to conduct the Peace Dialogue Cluster Evaluation and Infrastructure Case Study. The consultant visited multiple field sites including Jonglei, Akobo, Upper Nile, NBG, and Rumbek. During the fieldwork phase, the consultant conducted Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews with local chiefs, grantees and community members including women beneficiaries and program staff.
The evaluation established that VISTAS dialogue activities were providing the much-needed opportunity for warring communities to interact and were leading to improved trust and tolerance among communities. A t the same time there was need for a more structured data collection system and analysis, especially focusing beyond just activity specific achievements. These and other key findings were presented during the Rolling Assessment in July after the team was evacuated to Nairobi. The Infrastructure Case Study was unfortunately cut short due to the conflict that erupted in July.
Additionally, VISTAS conducted an evaluation of its Morning Star pilot phase program through an international research firm, Forcier Consulting. The evaluation was conducted during the month of April 2016. During the evaluation, data was collected in Unity, Lakes, Jonglei, Western, Central and Eastern Equatoria – as well as Greater Pibor and Abyei Administrative Areas.
During the reporting period, the M&E team worked closely with the COR on the finalization of Statement of Work for an anticipated mid-term evaluation/learning assessment of the VISTAS program to be conducted by MSI, which is now planned to begin in November, 2016.
The M&E team also took a number of initiatives to further strengthen the M&E processes and accountability mechanisms, which resulted in the development of a more structured reporting format developed for activity level monitoring visits. Additionally, changes were made to the M&E Plan template for each activity by including output and outcome indicators, which were not previously required as part of each plan. This was done to better gauge the change that had taken place because of the activities. Furthermore, to ensure the quality of data as the per USAID rules, the M&E team developed standard operating procedures for VISTAS OneSource (online data collection hub) data quality assessment.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 20 VII. ADMINISTRATION AND LOGISTICS During FY016, the stability of the country did not improve which lead to greater operational and administrative challenges in several of the regions where VISTAS operates. The capital was generally calm security wise, prior to the July fighting, which allowed the Juba VISTAS office to function normally with constraints such as highly fluctuating markets, difficulty in air and road transport, banking, HR, and a new registration process stemming out of the NGO bill. In Juba, HR issues had the biggest effect on grants, as onboarding temporary staff and addressing staff issues such as title changes, raises, etc. progressed slower than expected.
OFFICES AND STAFFING To improve the efficiency of the HR, Procurement, Logistics, and Operations Departments and reduce the number of staff reporting to the Chief of Party, VISTAS hired a Deputy Chief of Party for Operations during the reporting period. This took place because after consultations between the Senior Management Team and USAID it was determined that the Chief and Deputy Chief of Party Programs, had too many divisions reporting to them and therefore in the interest of efficiency, decentralization was needed.
Other key management staff which joined the program during FY16 were; Director for Research, Reporting and Evaluation, Regional Program Managers for Upper Nile, Unity and NBG, Procurement Director and Logistics Director.
The new director level positions were created to have each division reporting to them, while the directors would report to the Chief and Deputy Chief of Party. The new positions are anticipated to continue to improve the efficacy and effectiveness of the HR, Procurement, Logistics, Operations and Program Departments.
During FY16, VISTAS successfully opened a sub-office in Pagak, Upper Nile State. The need for this came about as Pagak served as a key entry point into IO controlled areas and offered a geographical balance to our programming. Prior to this, Akobo was the only IO controlled area in which VISTAS operated.
This reporting period also saw a change in the VISTAS Contracting Officer Representatives (COR), Ms. Nadia Shah who joined the program in November 2015 and left the program in early June 2016. Richard Hoffman joined as assistant team lead in January 2016. As a result, Richard Hoffman acted as the COR until Ms. Jacqueline Schumacher was appointed as the permanent COR in August, following the departure of Ms. Shah.
OPERATIONS Nationally, the availability, price fluctuation and transport of goods was the biggest hurdle to implementation in FY16. Items were scarce in the Juba market with prices of items changing sometimes during the course of the day. This trend is expected to continue in the foreseeable future making it extremely difficult to predict accurate numbers for grant expenses during the budgeting phase.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 21
The UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) which VISTAS uses for transporting grant supplies to its field locations was partially shut down at times during the year and discontinued flights to certain locations. This meant that VISTAS had to rely on chartered airplanes for transport of items to the field. The process of procuring a chartered plane and getting all the necessary clearances took two to four weeks on average, resulting is further delays in grant implementation.
Regionally, vast parts of Jonglei, as the frontline of the government vs IO forces, continued to be isolated from road access. Access to IO held areas of Nuer populations was only by fixed wing aircraft or riverboat. The VISTAS Pibor field office was looted during the fighting between SSDM-Cobra faction and the joint forces of Baba Medan’s militia and SPLA in February and remains to be rebuilt. These challenges impeded the implementation of certain grants in the region.
The Unity team suffered multiple logistical challenges over the past year. In no small part, these issues centered on the logistical issues presented by Unity State itself. Accessible by air only, the receipt of supplies was dependent on the weather and therefore inconsistent. Road traffic was virtually non- existent for anything but very short journeys due to road quality and insecurity. The market conditions in Unity state also presented challenges. Materials and supplies were unavailable or in limited supply and needed to be flown in from Juba or in limited instances trucked in from Wau.
The Lakes team experienced increased insecurity along the Rumbek-Yirol road where the program operated, due to cattle raids and road ambushes causing delays in grant implementation. Serious market shortages also affected access to goods and services, and staff well-being.
The Upper Nile, Pagak office suffered considerably under the evolving circumstances. Pagak hosts the headquarters of the IO, as such, it is marginalized and isolated by the government in Juba. Security clearance for charter flights to Pagak were obstructed, and the transport of people and goods was often impeded. VISTAS negotiated new arrangements to facilitate flexible procurement and the delivery of program funds to the Pagak office. Moving forward, VISTAS is exploring alternative procurement options from Gambella in Ethiopia. Operations in the Malakal POC were greatly affected when the violence erupted in February and destroyed a large part of the camp.
In NBG, the continued depreciation of the South Sudanese Pound against the US Dollar resulted in sky rocketing market prices. This also limited the number of traders coming in from Sudan to do business in NBG, resulting in most supplies having to be purchased and transported from Juba, which wasn’t the case in previous years and thus lead to delays in grant implementation.
FY 2016 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 22 ANNEX A: FINANCIAL INFORMATION (FOR INTERNAL USAID USE ONLY)
A B C D E F = C + D + E
Total Actual, Projected Total Approved Obligated Costs Incurred Projections Accruals June Expenditures through
Budget (Mod 9) Amount through Invoice 33 FY16Q4 2016 FY16Q4, and June Accruals
Project Management $ 48,961,742 $27,765,285 $23,512,174 $2,944,449 Costs
TAP $57,658,778 $32,697,211 $18,002,258 $1,691,250
Fixed Fee $ 3,858,426 $2,188,047 $1,844,606 $231,785
TOTAL $ 110,478,956 $62,650,543 $43,359,038 $4,867,484 $850,000 $49,076,522
Budget Lines:
Project Management Costs = direct contractor activity (and indirect costs). Operational costs are inclusive of grant handling charge. TAP = TAP STTA, Training, DDGS, and GUC Column A – Represents the Total Estimated Cost (TEC) per the award. Column B – Obligated Amount represents the amount obligated per the latest modification/amendment. Column C – Costs expended and paid by the Contractor that have been billed to USAID. Costs incurred to date should be within the last 30 days or latest date available. Column D – Projected expenditures for the associated period. Column E – Accruals for June 2016 Column F – Total Actual and Projected Expenditures for the associated period and June 2016 accruals.
Viable Support To Transition and Stability (VISTAS)/ Q3 FY2016 Quarterly Report
FY Annual 2016 Quarterly Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 23 ANNEX B: SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Date Location Activity
Late October Akobo Peace Building Workshop for women of Akobo East Early November Bor Inter school drama and essay competition; peace messaging, five days’ event Peace workshop to strengthen the role of women in peace and conflict Mid November Bor mitigation Jonglei youth peace dialogue meeting to resolve intra communal political Late November Bor polarization Early December Bor Printing and dissemination of customary law booklets, traditional authorities Mid October – Ganyliel/Nyal Inter-communal dialogues on stopping revenge killing Late November Early December Bentiu POC/town Dialogue on women’s role in conflict management/mitigation Dissemination of Mingkaman Terekeka, Anuol and Yirol Peace Conference Early November Yirol resolutions in Terekeka, Tali and Yirol Training of 40 Community Animal Health Workers (CAHW) and animal November - Yirol auctioneers in proper record keeping, 20 chiefs and community leaders on December management and maintenance of the facility November - Community engagement outreach activities in peace building and peaceful co- Rumbek East - Aduel December existence awareness Early October Nairobi Facilitations Skills training for Master Trainers’ candidates Late October Nairobi Morning Star TOT for Master Trainers candidates Trauma sensitive script writing and radio drama productions for members of Late October Nairobi South Sudan Theater Organization November – Juba Trauma awareness sessions for students from Juba Catholic University December Malakal POC & Malakal Late October Inter-Ethnic Dialogue on the Occupation of IDP property in Malakal town Town Support to Lead Development Agency (LDA) in running a 15-day workshop Early November Pagak on traditional justice mechanisms for 60 chiefs Gender Empowerment Sudan Organization (GESO) supported by the Mid-November Maiwut construction of an office, training space, and running a workshop for IDP women October to Yambio Ongoing peace meetings managed by the Yambio Inter-Faith Group December November Juba Civil Society Security Training in NBO October to Juba Daily Shortwave Broadcasts from Eye Radio and Radio Tamazuj February 2017 Late October Aweil Town Physical training and rehabilitation of Taekwondo club Late October - Aweil Marathon with youth and women in the three states of Aweil, Aweil Aweil Town December East and Lol Late December to Pre-migration peace conferences between Dinka Malual – Rizeigat and Dinka Nyamlel and Wanyjok February 2017 Malual – Misseriya
FY16 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 24 ANNEX C: REGION-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
FY16 NUMBER OF CLEARED ACTIVITIES PER REGION
1% 4% 1%
10% Norther Bar el Ghazal 10% 10% 12% Unity 12% Jonglei 21% 13% Central Equatoria/Juba 28% Lakes 13% 21% Upper Nile 10% Eastern Equatoria 1% 28% National 1% Western Equatoria 4%
FY16 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 25 ANNEX D: PROGRESS ON INDICATOR TARGETS
FY16 INDICATOR ANNUAL TARGET ACHIEVEMENT Number of new groups or initiatives created through USG funding, 28 33 dedicated to resolving the conflict or the drivers of conflict. Number of people participating in USG-supported events, training, or 13,500 34,300 activities designed to build mass support for peace and reconciliation. Number of USG-assisted campaigns and programs to enhance public understanding, NGO support, and 0 8 media coverage of judicial independence and accountability. Number of local women participating in a substantive role or position in a 35% 25% peace building process supported with USG assistance Number of consensus building forums held with USG assistance that 10 21 end in agreement Number of initiatives or events that include peace messaging or increase 34 54 access to information among communities Number of beneficiaries with improved access to critical 35,000 29,553 infrastructure, such as service delivery, trade and training
FY16 Annual Report/ Viable Support to Transition and Stability (VISTAS) 26 ANNEX F: SUCCESS STORIES
“Wrestling for Peace” in Juba
USAID supports a multi-ethnic “My presence here is already peace, whether I win or lose, this wrestling tournament promoting tournament is peace by itself,” says Machuong Makwei, a wrestler messages of peace and unity in Juba from Lakes State, who is also a science student at Upper Nile University. Wrestling is a sport practiced among a handful of South Sudan’s ethnic groups, largely within cattle camps, and is a great source of pride within these communities. Under a recent activity, USAID brought together participants from four different states and ethnic groups – Lakes State (Dinka), Jonglei (Dinka Bor), Central Equatoria (Mundari) and Eastern Equatoria (Lotuho) to compete in Juba in a national wrestling tournament. This activity was premised to build relationships between communities by bringing them together to “This wrestling tournament has celebrate shared South Sudanese traditions at a time when promoted peace, and I believe that as a tensions between communities have been on the rise. wrestler, I can now move freely from The championship match pitted the Mundari of Central Equatoria Bor to Terekeka without any fear, against the Dinka Bor of Jonglei, two communities with a long because I have built friendships with history of conflict and ongoing tensions. The tournament also utilized songs and cultural dances to promote peace messaging other wrestlers from the other tribes” before, during and after the matches. The Jonglei team won the Taban Ajak-wrestler from Jonglei State. match and were joined by the Mundari team in their victory celebration dance. “This wrestling tournament has built relations among the wrestlers and I believe that as a wrestler, I can now move freely from Bor up to Terekeka without any fear because, I have built long lasting friendships with other wrestlers from the other tribes”, said Taban Ajak a wrestler from Jonglei State. The tournament offered a rare chance for the wrestlers, coaches and their supporters to interact closely with different ethnic groups, which is an important step in building trust between communities. One spectator spoke of how the wrestling tournament built trust and provided a peaceful outlet for communal pride, which can otherwise express itself violently. Juba Stadium was filled to capacity for the majority of the six matches with an average of 3000 plus spectators attending each match, a crowd comparable to the national football team matches, according to the stadium management. The high turnout and buzz generated by the tournament is indicative that wrestling can be an important avenue towards the formation of a South Sudanese national identity.
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Peace dialogues reduce tensions in Southern Unity
Fostering cooperation between displaced As civil war continues to devastate communities in South Sudan, populations and host communities in resource strapped communities helps many rural areas now have extremely limited resources of food, promote cohesion water and other essentials, creating tensions when people flee fighting in their home area to seek safety in other communities, and everyone then struggles to survive.
Ethnic dimensions of the nearly three-year conflict, which combatants have exploited to terrify and control civilians, can also cause tensions between host communities and displaced populations.
In Unity State, for example, tensions between host communities in southern Unity and internally displaced persons (IDPs) began to grow after fighting in April 2015 forced the IDPs from their homes. Cattle theft, food insecurity and restricted movement of the IDPs due to fighting in the area-exacerbated tensions between host Participants of the peace dialogue meeting in communities and IDPs. In some cases, host community members Nyal - Photo Credit Puot Mabor. from accessing water points or food distribution centers established by humanitarian aid organizations prevented IDPs.
To help resolve tensions between the host community and the IDPs in southern Unity, USAID supported a series of peace dialogues in Nyal and Ganyliel payams of Panyijar County to encourage the host community and IDPs to address their grievances and prevent further escalation of violence.
More than 70 participants representing both the local community and the IDPs attended the dialogue in April 2016 “This surpassed the ”I addressed people in the number of participants we planned for,” said Machien Loui, Regional church and shared with them Program Development Coordinator of USAID’s Viable Support to what was agreed upon in the Transition and Stability (VISTAS) project in South Sudan. “The peace dialogues and impressive turnout shows the communities’ interest in restoring encouraged the people to live peace in southern Unity.” in harmony and avoid As a result of the peace dialogues, the IDPs are now able to move discrimination of the IDPs” freely between counties, discrimination of IDPs by the host Chief James Nange - community at water points and food distribution centers has Nyal Payam Administrator decreased, and the host community leadership has formed a peace mobilization committee, comprising members from both the IDP and host communities, which will champion peace-building activities in Panyijar County.
Nyal Payam Administrator Peter Mawien Jok commended community members for participating and expressed his commitment to encouraging peace. “I wrote letters to the youth leaders in the payams directing them to allow IDPs coming from Mayendit and Leer with their livestock to move freely,” he said. “I am committed to restoring peace in southern Unity.
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U.S. Agency for International Development www.usaid.gov
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