Breaking the vicious cycle of conflict/disaster-displacement-aid dependency in South Sudan Cordaid South Sudan has been active as an implementing NGO in South Sudan for many years. Gesundes Afrika e.V. has also been implementing projects in South Sudan with partner organisations for decades. Action for Community Health (ACH) has been active as a voluntary organisation for several years and has been officially registered as an NNGO since spring 2022. Through various interventions, Cordaid South Sudan and Gesundes Afrika have worked together. In 2020, Cordaid South Sudan and Gesundes Afrika jointly implemented an emergency project in Jonglei (350,000€) as well as a BMZ-funded project in East Equatoria. Based on these experiences, the partners have jointly developed (mainly sustainable and integrated) project concepts. 
Where possible, Cordaid South Sudan works with local implementing partners (NNGOs) with the aim of promoting the local civil society, strengthening their capacities and improving the sustainability of project activities. Cordaid South Sudan is committed to building the capacity of local civil organisations as part of their localisation strategy. They have set a target of implementing 80% of their project activities through NNGOs. In 2022, Cordaid South Sudan conducted an assessment (Participatory Rapid Appraisal, PRA), to assess the capacity of the local partner organisa-tion (ACH) and developed a capacity building and system strengthening plan. 
In the proposed project, activities in Juba (Central Equatoria) will be implemented independently by ACH, while Cordaid South Sudan implements the activities in Magwi and involves ACH in such a way that ACH can gain im-portant experience in coordinating and collaborating with different actors through trainings/workshops, exchange visits, joint supervision and monitoring, procurement processes, etc. 
The plan is for ACH to manage its staff and operating costs independently. The funds for the activities are trans-ferred to ACH on the basis of a costed workplan, which is jointly reviewed every two to three months. Cordaid South Sudan assumes a supervisory role in the field to ensure that financial and administrative procedures are fol-lowed and adhered to. ACH is involved in the various processes to gain experience in financial and administrative management. The handling of the funds and the transfer modalities as well as the respective implementation re-sponsibilities will be defined in a joint MoU with ACH, Cordaid South Sudan and Gesundes Afrika.
In 2021 and 2022 several planning meetings between ACH, Cordaid and Gesundes Afrika have taken place in Juba and virtually. Gesundes Afrika rates the cooperation and communication with Cordaid South Sudan and Action for Community Health as very good. Considering the difficult project environment and the tense security situation in South Sudan, Cordaid South Sudan and ACH are doing a great job. In our view, Cordaid South Sudan is one of the few organisations in South Sudan that does not only focus on emergency aid, but always follows a sustainable and long-term approach and mainly employs local staff. Both partner organisations involve national NGOs, health facili-ties, but also community and district structures in their work and try to build and strengthen local structures and capacities. Furthermore, Cordaid South Sudan has sufficient structures in place to ensure proper administrative and financial management in such a difficult project environment and to comply with important security standards and corruption prevention and protection measures. Cordaid South Sudan has solid experience in working with and building the capacity of non-governmental organisations. ACH's pool of experts has solid experience in implement-ing large projects, including BMZ-funded projects. They have merged this experience and expert knowledge in a voluntary organisation that has developed into an officially registered NNGO in recent years.

Project title: Integration, stabilization, and capacity building of internally displaced persons, returnees and host communities in South Sudan to improve living conditions and peaceful coexistence.
Private German sponsor: Gesundes Afrika e.V.
Project duration: 1 September 2023 - 30 April 2026 
The project is implemented by a consortium of a large experienced NGO (Cordaid South Sudan) and a small local NGO (Action for Community Health). Cordaid South Sudan is a decentrally organized INGO that specializes in strengthening local civil society in South Sudan. They have extensive experience in building and promoting national NGOs and implement 80% of their project activities through local partners.  ACH is a volunteer organization that has been involved in South Sudan for several years and has been professionalizing its work since 2021. Building resilience of IDPs, returnees and host commu-nities in Magwi and Juba, South Sudan The project targets IDPs, returnees and host communities in the two districts of Magwi in East Equatoria and Juba in Central Equatoria. Based on beneficiary needs identified in the feasibility study, the project will directly reach 10,000 people. Indirectly, 60,000 (7,200 men, 16,800 women, 18,000 boys and 18,000 girls) IDPs, returnees and host communities will benefit from the project. 6,000 HH (36,000 individuals) will be targeted in Magwi County and 4,000 HH (24,000 individuals) in Juba County. Activities in Magwi County (Mugali, Pageri, Moli, Lobone, Abara, Pajok and Magwi Payams) include skills training, promotion of agriculture including post harvesting and value addition, im-proving water supply and sanitation and strengthening mental health and inclusion. These activities in Magwi are implemented directly by Cordaid South Sudan, ACH participates in the implementation in Magwi to learn from Cor-daid South Sudan. Activities in Juba County (Mangateen, Gumbo and Lologo) include skills training, vegetable culti-vation, post harvesting and value addition, improving water supply and sanitation and strengthening mental health and inclusion. These activities are directly implemented by Action for Community Health (ACH) and closely moni-tored and supervised by Cordaid South Sudan. In addition, Cordaid South Sudan will provide tailored training to Action for Community Health (ACH) and strengthen their institutional systems for financial management, human resource management, and logistics and procurement management. 
All project activities take into account the host communities as well as the IDPs and returnees living in the midst of the host communities. Inclusion, mental health and gender will be considered as cross-cutting issues. For better inclusion of people with disabilities/special needs and mental health problems, we will work with disability net-works/organisations and sensitise the project team and stakeholders. 

Beneficiary Selection: At the start of the project, the most vulnerable IDP, returnee and host community households are selected by a Beneficiary Selection Committee. The BSC is composed of Cordaid South Sudan staff, ACH staff, and staff from the County Agric Department and RRC, and includes key community members and representatives of women and youth (from host communities, IDPs and returnees). The committee sets the conditions for beneficiary selection and carries out mobilisation, identification and registration of project beneficiaries. Community leaders are encouraged to involve the community, especially women and people with special needs (PSN). Their concerns and needs are included in the implementation. Participation of the target group and communities is expected in the various activities, e.g. women are involved in the selection of boreholes to ensure that the selected sites are nearby, safe to access and safe for children. Community feedback is sought through FGDs, KIIs and one-to-one meetings. The selection, registration and education of beneficiary groups will follow the principle of "Do no harm" and ensure the inclusion and participation of women and men. The selection of beneficiaries also ensures that there is no conflict between ethnic groups. For example, the project region in Magwi covers equally Madi and Acholi areas to ensure that both ethnic groups are equally benefited and that the project does not cause ethnic tensions. Conflict between farmers and itinerant pastoralists is considered as a cross-cutting issue, with the project focusing on the 'settled' or 'settling' families.