SERVICES: National Platforms
South Sudan
Context: The CCE Working group was first established in 2014 as the ‘Communicating with Communities’ (CWC) working group, in keeping with a global humanitarian commitment towards accountability to affected populations (IASC, 2012). In 2018 the group was re-established as the Community Communications and Engagement working group (CCE WG), following a regional community engagement conference in Nairobi. This reflected a progression of the humanitarian agenda from ensuring transparency in humanitarian decision-making towards ‘a participation revolution; involving people receiving aid in making the decisions which affect their lives’ (Grand Bargain, 2016).
Working closely with the South Sudan Inter-Cluster Working Group the CCE WG has advocated for this principle to underpin humanitarian action in South Sudan going forward. As is echoed in the South Sudan 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan, only through comprehensive community engagement will it be possible to achieve our humanitarian objectives. It is the mandate of the working group as a common coordinated service to provide strong leadership, technical support and thoughtful guidance to all clusters, working groups and humanitarian initiatives both at the national and subnational level. The CCE WG finds durable solutions for people affected by disaster in South Sudan, requiring the CCE WG to actively integrate and harmonise community engagement practises across all humanitarian clusters and working groups. The CCE WG has also formally agreed to collaborate with the PSEA Task Force, which aims to enable affected communities in high risk areas to assess and influence humanitarian action on sexual exploitation and abuse by strengthening the CBCMs and facilitating clear, direct feedback loops between PSEA actors and the communities themselves.
It is the conviction of the CCE working group that only with a foundation of comprehensive community communication and engagement and PSEA, will durable solutions to returns, resettlement and integration be achieved.
Government links: N/A
Leads/Chairs/Co-Chairs: Chair is Internews. Co-chairs are Acted and IOM. It is hoped that a NNGO from the protection cluster will also be added as co-chair.
National and international actors involved: Local and international NGOs and media development agencies.
Donors: Seed funding was provided under the CDAC DEPP DFID for 2014-2016 via Internews South Sudan.
Opportunities and challenges: The 2018 Nairobi Regional CCE Workshop and global interest in community engagement and AAP has provided an opportunity to reinvigorate existing plans and activities, however it remains to be seen whether this will be matched by increased funding and clear commitments from overall response leaders.
As part of the WG, Internews is organising a workshop in Juba with CCE practitioners in October 2019 to develop CCE minimal standards and a road map towards a common feedback platform for South Sudan.
High turnover within organisations in South Sudan makes stable participation in working groups difficult (a problem not limited to community engagement).
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