Author(s)

Abstract

Executive Summary

South Sudan and Sudan accounts for seven million displaced persons making them have the largest protracted displacement situation in Africa. The gradual return of peace in South Sudan, resulting from the implementation of the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan and the efforts towards the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement in Sudan, notwithstanding the 2023 conflict, illustrate the efforts of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and other partner organizations in supporting both countries to find sustainable solutions to the conditions of their uprooted populations.

During a meeting in early December 2020 in Khartoum, the governments of the two countries developed a road-map that highlighted steps to be taken towards short, medium, and sustainable solutions for the uprooted populations, including IDPs and refugees as well as returnees. A follow-up meeting in Juba in January 2021 agreed on the process to develop the durable solutions, strategies, and plans of action for each of the two countries.

In South Sudan, a National Technical Committee on Durable Solutions co-chaired by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) and Commission for Refugee Affairs (CRA) with the membership of key line ministries, was set up to supervise the process of developing the durable solutions strategy and plan of action for the country. The process involved reviewing documents, consultations with stakeholders in six of the country’s ten states, in line with the road-map agreed upon by the two countries, and drawing lessons from previous returns. Moreover, it built on a National Framework for Return, Reintegration and Relocation of Displaced Persons that, was prepared by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in 2019.

In carrying out its mandate, the NTC –DS and stakeholders took into account the fact that providing sustainable durable solutions for refugees, IDPs, returnees and host communities entailed dealing with broader issues, particularly addressing the root causes of conflict and building solidarity among communities and displaced people with a critical consideration of the need of resource sharing.

The adoption of the Nairobi Declaration and Plan of Action by IGAD in March 2017 and the announcement of the IGAD Support Platform at the first Global Refugee Forum in December 2019, illustrates the goodwill of actors at the regional and international levels to support countries hosting large numbers of refugees, including Sudan and South Sudan. In addition, the 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants calls upon all countries to address the root causes of large-scale refugee situations. Further, the Global Compact on Refugees agreed by the UN General Assembly in 2018 urges the international community to contribute resources and expertise to support countries of origin to deal with root causes and to enable conditions favorable for voluntary repatriation.

The Durable Solution Strategy and Plan of Action aim at guiding the government and stakeholders to tackle the challenges confronting displaced persons (women, girls, boys and men) as they return to their places of origin, settle into other places of their choice, integrate into communities or seek refuge in South Sudan. To ensure that this is effected, the following priority actions need to be undertaken:

• Create secure and safe environment for achieving durable solutions;
• Provide basic services to support and sustain durable solutions;
• Support integration of refugees, IDPs, returnees, and host communities and improve their livelihoods;
• Strengthen government institutional capacities and relations at all levels and
• Bolster Government ownership and capacity, partnership arrangements and coordination mechanisms for government to undertake effective interventions.

For these actions to be realized, the government will adopt and encourage a proactive and holistic approach which garners the meaningful participation of a broad and diverse range of stakeholders, as well as soliciting the required financial and in-kind resources.