Radio Miraya
2840: MBS. Launch of Fragility Index Report in South Sudan
the international organisation for migration, IOM and Duke University are advancing into the second phase of a pivotal research initiative aimed at measuring and addressing fragility in South Sudan. Well, this initiative is central to the strategic shift from short-term humanitarian aid towards transition and long-term recovery in the region through the provision of evidence-based data. Now, to discuss more about this initiative and the related event organised tomorrow 30 of October, we are now joining the studio by Suri Vijaya, who is the chief of mission IOM, South Sudan and Dr. Mara Rivkin, associate professor of law and political science in Duke University. Good morning ladies and welcome to the program. Good morning. Thank you for having us. Right. Yes, I would like to start with you Vijaya, just described towards the main objective of this fragility index report in South Sudan and how will it facilitate that transition from humanitarian aid to recovery. Okay, so the fragility index is a collaboration research initiative between IOM and Duke University. It's looking to enhance transition and recovery efforts in South Sudan and help us move beyond humanitarian aid towards more data-driven solutions. So we expect that the data and the information will help provide information on a fragility rating, which will allow us to look at solutions and understand the dimensions of fragility, whether they be economic, environmental, conflict-related or political or security-related, to inform the design of context-specific coordinated programs to address the needs in terms of recovery, in terms of stabilization, in terms of reintegration of vulnerable communities. Right. And basically the targeted goal is to help people not just stand up, but more importantly stay up and will be able to resist compounding shocks that so often affect populations in South Sudan and really build on that resilience for people to start helping themselves. Right. And I've just shed some light on how this data for this index was collected and how the fragility index takes into account local perspectives and knowledge. Thank you. So the first step in this process was making sure that we defined fragility in a way that was going to be valid in local context here and makes sense in terms of everyday experiences of South Sudanese people. So in order to do that, we consulted extensively with IOM's local staff who work closely in these affected communities, as well as South Sudanese experts, academic, civil society, journalists, community leaders, and others who have a sense of what concepts like environmental fragility or political fragility mean in everyday life. And through this process of piloting, we developed a survey questionnaire that uses five relatively simple questions to operationalize each of six different dimensions of fragility. So we have economic, societal, human, environmental security and political and legal. And then to ensure what we call a representative sample or a sample that's going to reflect broadly on the diversity of South Sudan's population and geography. We used a random sampling procedure, which is a method that gives every single person in a given community an equal opportunity to be sampled or to participate in the survey and to ensure that their voices are heard. So through that process, working with IOM's displacement tracking matrix team of researchers, we collected a total of 3,685 surveys across nine different counties in South Sudan, ensuring gender balance and ensuring that those samples were representative of communities. And we also conducted a number of qualitative interviews and focus group discussions with community leaders to help us to contextualize those quantitative results. Right. And how long did it take it to collect all that? So it was more than two months of data collection in the field, but that followed several months of research design and piloting and consultations with experts in South Sudan to really make sure that we were putting these concepts into terminology that would resonate locally. Right. Yes. Revkin, as still with you, with the complexities and the dynamics in South Sudan, how does the fragility index address the variations in vulnerability across different communities? So we think this is a powerful tool because first it breaks down fragility into these six different dimensions, I mentioned including environmental and societal. And it also allows us to map subnational variation in fragility between different counties in South Sudan. So many of our listeners may be familiar with the OECD and World Bank approaches to fragility, which take a very macro level approach. So they will maybe calculate a single score of fragility at the national level that's based on GDP, maybe national infant mortality rate and other very high level measures. But in a country that's as diverse as South Sudan, those national level indicators don't tell us very much about, say, conditions in the molecule or WOW or Cuba, which are very different. So this allows us to see variation in fragility between counties. And then importantly, we can also look at variation between different subgroups of the population in a given county. So we can compare women against men and see a trend in which women often are report higher levels of fragility than men. We can also compare returnees and displaced persons against the host community and see differences in fragility. Right. Right. Thank you so much, Revkin. Yes, Vijaya. Try to elaborate to us on how this fragility index will help bridge the gap between humanitarian aid and long-term recovering South Sudan. I think the unique feature of the fragility index is that it helps to measure impact and to be able to demonstrate meaningful change positively or negatively. And that is very extremely valuable when you're looking to move from a humanitarian context to more of a recovery and a transition context. So firstly, it helps inform the programming, really tailoring to the needs of the communities at the geographic level and at the community level. And that will take into account the various dimensions of fragility and look for the solutions that make the most sense or that respond the most to the needs. So for example, if we're going to look at market-oriented solutions and seeing what are needed from a labor market perspective, but also from a supply market perspective, and that how that can help address some of the vulnerabilities of the community, this information will help the target, that kind of programming in those locations. And we feel that it also serves in a meaningful way because we will also able to track and measure the progress and the impact felt by the communities. So that's quite critical. Mara mentioned the specificity of being able to look at the local level, at the geographic local community level. And we think that that capacity to strengthen our area based approach and understanding of the needs of the community is quite critical. And so we can compare between communities, but we also can compare between households and we can look at more tailored solutions designed on what community members need. And it's designed in a way that I think we can do carry out evaluations and impact and really look at how do we strengthen this pathway to recovery, because there are a number of steps that people need to embark on to really be more self-reliant and resilient and more robust to withstand the recurring shocks in South Sudan. And this index helps us measure that progress and help tailor the needs as the situation evolves in a country looking at the various fragility dimensions, like the societal issues, the environmental issues, the political issues. Yes. Thank you ladies for coming today and inform us about this very important topic. As we conclude, Mara, what is your final remark? So I would say I would ask listeners also to focus on not just cases of high fragility, which the tool does identify, but it also shows variation in areas where fragility is lower and that have higher levels of capacity and resilience. So Vijaya mentioned for economic recovery programming, a place like Malakal, which is one of the least economically fragile in the survey, is one where communities are really maybe ready for investment and have the resources and infrastructure are capable of upstartings, small businesses. So I would say that this is a tool very much to also help to identify what's working in areas where progress is already happening that we can build upon. Yes, sorry. And tell us about the events tomorrow. So tomorrow we are launching the second round of the fragility index. We're very lucky to have panel bringing together very notably Mara, but also experts from South Sudan, technical experts who work on solutions and to discuss and engage about how the fragility index can be of use to the wider partnership. This is a tool that's designed not just for IOM's programming, although we are very active in this area, but it's also designed to also support partners to help their programming and see how we can come together to create more reinforced actions tailored based on evidence provided in the index. Right. So we'll be attending. So we have the undersecretary of peace building who will be chairing. I will be in attendance and Mara will be in attendance. And we have a representative of DSRSG and the humanitarian coordinator who will be represented. - Right, Suri and Mara, thank you so much for your time.