NGOs Can and Should Help South Sudan Along the Path to Peace and Prosperity
Barely mentioned at South Sudan's international engagement talks this week, NGOs have spent decades forging ties in the country. But they will have to adjust to new realities.
The South Sudan international engagement conference, held in Washington, D.C., this week, was the Republic of South Sudan's formal debut before international donors and private investors. Organized by USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development) and sponsored by multiple aid actors including InterAction, the conference provided an opportunity for South Sudanese ministers to present their development vision and listen to the mixture of enthusiastic commitments and cautionary tales offered by the assembled aid officials.
The informal theme was that South Sudan is open for business. This was reinforced by a colourful glossy investor guide, with summary sheets touting the country's "booming economy," "untapped potential," "pro-business government," and "hugely motivated workforce."
No one wanted to detract from South Sudan's right to bask in the euphoria of its birth as the world's newest sovereign state. As President Salva Kiir has remarked, with a nod to former South African leader Nelson Mandela, the country has had a "long march to freedom." With this in mind, donor representatives conveyed the standard good governance/accountability/transparency mantra very gently.
Given the generally positive tone, credit goes to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for delivering a vibrant, challenging address that raised issues otherwise avoided. Clinton's speech touched on internal ethnic tensions, the difficulty of addressing vulnerability with weak state institutions, and the need to move away from the wartime mindset of short-term thinking and adopting a violent approach to problem-solving.
Sudanese businessman and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim gave even tougher love. In a short address, he stressed the need for clear planning, self-reliance, and an overall sense of urgency given the fickle nature of international donor and public attention.
Striking throughout the conference was the near total absence of testimony to the importance of the nongovernmental sector. South Sudan has been an area of intense involvement for international and local NGOs for at least three decades, yet past and potential future support were seldom mentioned amid the clamour for government ownership and private sector investment.
At least two factors are at work here. Now that South Sudan is independent, the unusually intense NGO involvement during the independence struggle too easily becomes a symbol and reminder of the bad old days of conflict and disaster. Second, the NGO community is not leaping on the "Sudan is open for business" bandwagon, and is therefore – from the standpoint of the South Sudanese government and the conference organizsers – off message. Indeed, the first recommendation of the joint NGO briefing paper, "Getting it Right from the Start: Priorities for Action in the New Republic of South Sudan," endorsed by 38 Juba-based organizations, is to "balance development assistance with continued support for humanitarian needs." It is a valid recommendation underpinned by sound analysis, yet it conflicts with the conference's intended portrayal of South Sudan as a country on the road to peace and prosperity.
NGOs can and should be part of the development of a peaceful and prosperous future for South Sudan. They are uniquely suited to reach vulnerable communities and people, develop appropriate innovations based on long collective experience at community level, fill service gaps, and provide policy analysis focused on promoting social justice and inclusion as the fledgling country develops. Rather than bypassing government structures, NGOs should coordinate with the government at all times and collaborate when appropriate.
Given the extent of the past role of NGOs in South Sudan, some tension with the emergent new government is inevitable. NGOs will have to adjust to the new reality, recognising that there will be major involvement – both governmental and by large aid institutions and the private sector – in sectors they once dominated. But it would be cause for real regret if the close relationships NGOs developed with Sudanese people and leaders during the long independence struggle were to founder now in a messy squabble over authority and priorities. NGO commitment to South Sudan's future is unwavering, and this includes a commitment to building programmes that address the challenges so aptly described by Clinton.
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By Joel Charny, vice preisdent for humanitarian policy & practice, InterAction. Originally posted on Dec. 16, 2011, on the Guardian's development blog, Poverty Matters.
