Accountability to Affected Populations in South Sudan

Seven years after the signing of a formal peace-agreement, South Sudan is facing a multitude of crises, including widespread poverty, low levels of development, high levels of malnutrition, alongside frequent disease outbreaks and pockets of intercommunal violence. In addition, progress and development have been further impeded by harsh climatic conditions including both floods and droughts. Meanwhile low levels of development in terms of economy, physical infrastructure, governance, as well as at institutional level, hinder the potential for large-scale development, while funding cuts put further strain on the delivery of needed assistance. These factors combined mean that the humanitarian response is both overwhelmed and under-resourced. 

Further strain on South Sudan comes in the form of pressure from the country to the north; Sudan. Sudan, in addition to facing crises similar to those described above, has been affected by a prolonged civil war resulting in numerous casualties, and an economic collapse. This has led to influxes of refugees as well as returnees to neighbouring countries, including South Sudan. The Sudan crisis has also impacted land locked South Sudan and its fragile economy in another way. Since start of the civil war, the trading route of the country’s oil reserves has been suspended from its point of dispatchment in Port Sudan at the Red Sea in Sudan. 

The influx of returnees and refugees in South Sudan is concentrated in areas operating formal border cross-points, where a multitude of humanitarian actors are available to provide basic services, including food, shelter, water, health, and protection services, and from where centralised onwards transportation assistance (OTA) is arranged by both IOM and UNHCR. Concern Worldwide, in partnership with WFP and two local partners; Community Engagement Network (CEN) and The Radio Community (TRC), is present in three major entry-points in South Sudan; Renk and Malakal in the north-east, and Wedweil in the north. Here, under the programme “Strengthening Accountability to Affected Populations”, Concern and partners engage in an extensive mechanism of two-way communication, aimed at bridging the gap between participants and humanitarian actors. In this unique programme, funded by WFP, we are heavily reliant on the radio expertise of our partners, which stand at the core of this approach. 

In 2023, prior to Concern’s participation, at the onset of the Sudan civil war, large numbers of refugees and returnees started entering through the aforementioned entry-points. Soon, a full-scale humanitarian response was at hand, involving a multitude of UN-partners, INGOs, and NNGOs. The influx of people moved faster than the existing humanitarian system, leading to overcrowding. At the same time, numerous agencies had begun implementing programmes in the area. This created a complex   system of aid and services that was difficult for the affected population to navigate, the majority of whom were illiterate. To remedy this, and to point people in the right direction, WFP, together with then partner Internews, CEN and later joined by TRC, started a programme aimed at receiving feedback, while simultaneously providing information on available services. 

When Internews dropped out of the programme in February 2025 the activities ceased until June that year, when Concern was identified as the new AAP partner in these areas. Today, together with CEN, as well as newly engaged partner TRC, Concern manages an Accountability to Affected Population (AAP) system that connects people with humanitarian actors through a clever system of receiving feedback, analysing data, and feeding information back into the affected communities. 

This exchange of information happens daily, and feeds into bi-weekly cycles of data analysis and processing. The feedback is received through one-on-one engagements inside and around the transit centres, refugee settlements, and border reception point, through listening groups, and through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Most importantly feedback is received through the permanent helpdesk, stationed at a strategic point inside the transit centres. Feedback comes in forms of complaints, suggestions, appreciation, concerns, and rumours, and span a wide range of ‘sectors. On average, we receive around 260 entries per location every two weeks. Across three locations this totals 780 entries. Based on the feedback received, and in consultation with WFP, the partners develop ‘Public Service Announcements’ (PSAs), or radio shows in multiple languages. This enables the partners, both experts in radio communication and broadcasting, disseminate information in a way that is affordable and easily accessible disregarding varying levels of literacy and access to assets such as internet devices.  On average, each bi-weekly period, per location 8 radio outputs are produced. These collectively, are aired an average of 220 times per each location. The airing is supported by portable radios distributed to communities, and by loudspeakers (either mobile or immobile) placed at strategic places during strategic hours (for example during food distributions). An example of a mobile strategy is the Boda Boda Talk Talk, which is a radio loudspeaker on a motorcycle. 

The operations and support extended to the partners is managed by the project manager. Meanwhile, on a bi-weekly basis, a humanitarian feedback bulletin is drafted and published on Reliefweb. Feedback is consolidated and sent to the Concern MEAL team for analysis and validation of the quantitative data and produces an assessment of the number of responses, the responses per sector, the matched sector per feedback category, the age group of the respondents, and the gender of the respondents. The Grants Manager simultaneously reads through all the entries and selects the pieces of both positive and negative feedback that are deemed important. Importance is given to responses that are frequently reported, or that are exceptional in their nature. Once the selection is finalised, ‘requests for feedback’ are sent to each of the accountable humanitarian partners who in turn are able to comment on the feedback received. Some publicised examples of such entries and responses from agencies are:

The entire drafting process, including the data analysis, the gathering of the feedback, and the designing of the bulletin, should take no longer than one week, to maintain relevance. This means that every step needs to be coordinated and implemented without delay. 

An important aspect of the data collection at field level in the ‘resolution status’ of each piece of feedback. This is categorised in four separate classifications. An entry can be either ‘resolved’, ‘unresolved’, ‘informed’, or ‘referred’. This means that a participant was answered immediately in the face-to-face interaction, unresolved means no satisfying answer could be found, informed means the piece of feedback was translated into a PSA or radio show, and referred means a participant was guided (physically) to the correct humanitarian partner to address their respective situation. Each bulletin incorporates a section on ‘closing the loop’, where the quantitative data on resolution statuses is displayed and explained. 

In summary, the programme has built a feedback system that works on three levels. 

• At micro level, participants meet team members on the ground on a daily basis, which, in many cases, can provide a solution immediately, either by referring or by answering.
• At meso level, collected data is translated into PSAs and radio shows, which are aired multiple times and at strategic locations during strategic hours, achieving maximum impact. At macro level, humanitarian actors are notified when feedback concerning them is received and are being given the opportunity to respond. Such feedback and responses are being reported in the bi-weekly bulletin. This included NNGOs, INGOs, and UN-agencies. By publishing the bulletins on Reliefweb we ensure that upwards accountability is facilitated. Although no official data is available, we have testimonies from some of our donors that they read the published bulletins. 

The strength of the programme lies in the following aspects: 

• Immense outreach among a critically vulnerable group of people.
• Outreach irrespective of levels of literacy and access to assets.
• Distinctive information sharing pathways at micro, meso, and macro level.
• It is a unique way to inform people both upwards and downwards
• Real-time provision of information based on responses and queries received from the affected population.
• A privilege for Concern to work together in a partnership with national partners that enrich our programme with a new skillset and knowledgebase that would otherwise not be achieved.