Donors Must Get Priorities Right from the Start

Last month a coalition of 38 aid agencies called on donors not to squander the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the people of South Sudan, the world’s newest nation. Donors are due to meet with Government of South Sudan officials over the next coming months to discuss development priorities. The country is one of the poorest in the world, with half the population living below the poverty line and, after decades of brutal war, is being built up almost from scratch.

In a joint report, the aid agencies, which include Oxfam, World Vision and the South Sudan Law Society, said it was vital that donors get their priorities for tackling poverty right from the start. The report outlines ten ‘high priority areas’ to focus donor action, including:

1. Balancing development assistance with continued support for emergency humanitarian need. 
2. Understanding conflict dynamics.
3. Involving communities and strengthen civil society.
4. Ensuring an equitable distribution of assistance.
5. Prioritizing the most vulnerable and ensure social protection.
6. Promoting pro-poor, sustainable livelihoods.
7. Strengthen government capacity, from the bottom up.
8. Allow sufficient time for transition towards government management of international aid.
9. Provide timely, predictable funds.
10. Ensure integrated programming.

These priority areas however are quite diffuse, and perhaps could be better thought of as principles to guide donor investments rather than priority focus areas per se. For the latter, donors eagerly await the government’s 2011-13 South Sudan Development Plan, which has been undergoing consultation for most of this year and is still in draft form.

The coalition’s report does however emphasize the complex challenge South Sudan faces to pursue development in the midst of ongoing violence, which promotes instability, complicates development projects,  and necessitates the re-direction of resources towards emergency recovery needs.  The report was released not long after tribal clashes in Jonglei had bought the death toll this year to 2,611. This  has been followed since by escalations in fighting in border areas which have forced much displacement and placed tremendous strain on humanitarian operations. More than 275,000 people have already been displaced by violence this year which has hindered much needed agriculture and crop cultivation.

The report also calls on donors to build up the capacity of the government of South Sudan, so it is able to provide more and better services for its people including effective security and rule of law across the country. Government structures are extremely weak and being built up from almost nothing, especially outside the main towns. The agencies say that it will take time for South Sudan to assume full responsibility for the delivery of services. NGOs are currently responsible for the majority of basic service delivery in South Sudan, such as health, education and water and sanitation, and it’s vital that donors continue supporting these services as they support the government to build up its capacity to deliver these services itself.

The aid agencies also urged donors to support agriculture and income generating opportunities for the poorest communities, and to help build up social protection schemes to help the most vulnerable in South Sudan, such as cash transfers for those prone to food insecurity. The report is available here.