Livelihoods and conflict in South Sudan
This paper recommends a rethink in the way that aid actors approach recovery and livelihood in a post-conflict environment
Abstract
More than 5 million people in South Sudan are currently in urgent need of humanitarian aid, with nearly 1.5 million displaced and another one million refugees. These figures indicate large-scale loss of lives and extreme disruption to livelihoods, which will take decades or generations to recover from. Yet livelihoods are often just expected to recover in a post-conflict environment.
Findings from 6 years of research by SLRC do not support this argument; in some areas of South Sudan, support for livelihoods may have even been better during conflict. This briefing paper recommends a rethink in the way that aid actors approach questions of recovery and livelihood. Rather than a simplistic either/ or approach, what is needed is a much more localised and deeper analysis of conflict, inter-communal grievances and inter-communal relations.
This research was funded under the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) programme
Citation
Maxwell, D., Gordon, R., Moro, L., Santschi, M., Dau, P., 2016. Livelihoods and conflict in South Sudan, Briefing Paper, London: Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium, 4p
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