South Sudan. December 2018.
FINAL MIDTERM REVIEW REPORT OF NCA PEACEBUILDING PROGRAMME.pdf
Program overview
NCA’s South Sudan Peacebuilding program is aligned to the 2016-2020 Country Strategy which prioritizes peacebuilding as the overarching goal permeating all other NCA thematic sectors. The program primarily focuses on supporting the implementation of the Action Plan for Peace, a church-centered peace process led by the South Sudan Council of Churches through its members and affiliates. Besides, NCA supports peacebuilding programs of other faith actors and civil society organizations in South Sudan.
Evaluation overview
This midterm evaluation of the peacebuilding program was undertaken to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of progress towards reaching the overall peacebuilding program goal. The intent of the review was to provide NCA management and program staff with insights on achievements and challenges emerging from implementation of the peacebuilding program. The review was expected to draw key learnings and best practices that will assist the NCA South Sudan program to be more responsive to the realization of South Sudan Peacebuilding goals and agenda in the country in general.
Key findings and recommendations
The SSCC (South Sudan Christian Council) has widespread networks in communities enabling churches to access unreachable locations in South Sudan. Church leaders and churches passed along key messages and positions persuading communities and political leaders to disengage from violence. Although regional branches seem to be established and active, local groups are inactive and disorganized despite the presence of SSCC member churches in all regions. Challenges of coordination, communication and planning have contributed to slow response to local conflicts.
The evaluation recommends that SSCC revitalizes non-functional ICCs based on acceptable criteria as well as improve communication and organization. The local chapters should be reorganized to be aligned with the new South Sudan council of churches. The alignment will streamline ICCs operations at community and regional levels. It is also recommended that, guided by existing advocacy strategies, SSCC identifies national advocacy priorities and develops an advocacy plan. We also recommend that the SSCC advocacy task force capacity be strengthened to deliver to its core mandate.