South Sudan Protracted Joint Response 2024-2026 (CPiE, FSL, & MPC in Malakal & Melut) SUMMARY
Under the Protracted Crisis Joint Response mechanism of the Dutch Relief Alliance, Plan International South Sudan and national partner SAADO will implement Protection, Food Security & Livelihoods and Multipurpose Cash activities in Malakal and Melut. Key elements include the provision of mental health and psychosocial support, Parents and Adolescents Life Skills (PALS) training, strengthening adolescent- and youth clubs, awareness raising on protection concerns with a special focus on gender-based violence, agricultural support, the provision of fishing kits and canoes, and supporting youth in setting up their own businesses. In doing so, Plan International and SAADO aim to strengthen the protective environment and socio-economic resilience of crisis-affected populations, with a specific focus on adolescent girls and boys. In Malakal and Melut, ongoing displacements due to inter-communal violence, political tensions and floods all contribute to a dire humanitarian crisis. The region relies on subsistence farming, livestock and fishing, all of which impacted by conflict. The Sudan Crisis worsened this by affecting purchasing power and coping mechanisms. Altogether this severely affected the physical and mental well-being of the population, particularly children and adolescents. Ethnic tensions hamper community engagement in productive activities and diminish confidence in long-term investments, leading to ongoing food and livelihood insecurity. Recent conflict heightened protection risks, especially for vulnerable groups like girls, young people and women. Community members express conflict drivers need to be addressed for peaceful coexistence. Key issues include SGBV risks, mental health concerns, family separation, limited access to services, education needs, and scarcity of food and essential items due to increased influx of people and reduction in goods coming from Sudan. A high prevalence of SGBV, exacerbated by patriarchal norms and social inequalities, disproportionately affects vulnerable groups like adolescent girls and young people. Under its Protection component, the South Sudan Joint Response (SSJR) aims to strengthen the protective environment of (adolescent) girls and boys by enabling them to recognise, prevent and respond to child protection, mental health, and gender-based violence risks. While activities such as awareness-raising, training and psychosocial support for adolescents themselves will be important factors in contributing to this objective, strengthening the knowledge and skills of key stakeholders in adolescents' lives to provide the necessary care and protection to young people will furthermore contribute to a more protective environment. Activities that will be implemented under Food Security & Livelihoods and Multipurpose Cash, such as agricultural support and cash distributions, will strengthen the socio-economic resilience of crisis-affected populations. As strengthened socio-economic resilience is expected to decrease tendencies to resort to negative coping mechanisms, such activities are finally also expected to contribute to a strengthened protective environment. This project builds and expands on its interventions conducted in prior Joint Responses. Both Plan International South Sudan and SAADO will continue their work in Malakal and Melut. While SAADO already implemented Protection activities, Plan International will complement activities under this component by introducing Parents and Adolescent Life Skills sessions to predominantly adolescents in the Adolescent Clubs that are receiving ongoing support from SAADO, in combination with the provision of MHPSS services. These MHPSS services are complementary to PSS support provided by other Joint Response consortium partners that operate in Malakal and Melut as well, but focus predominantly on children. This project targets IDPs, returnees and refugees, as well as vulnerable members of host communities. Particular attention will be paid to the specific needs of adolescent girls and boys. Sudanese refugees and South Sudanese returnees will be integrated within the response rather than targeting them separately. In the counties Malakal (town and PoC) and Melut (Paloch) in South Sudan, Plan International together with local partner SAADO will implement Protection, Food Security & Livelihoods and Multipurpose Cash activities as part of the broader Dutch Relief Alliance (DRA) consortium under the Protracted Crisis Joint Response mechanism. Localisation and Accountability efforts are furthermore made in line with DRA ambitions. The project will work closely with different stakeholders present in the community to prevent, prepare for and respond to crises, especially for the most vulnerable and at-risk populations. Core activities under the project's components are outlined below. 

Protection:
-	PALS: Parents and Adolescent Life Skills sessions will be provided to adolescent girls, boys and their caregivers by trained facilitators. 
-	MHPSS services: PSS facilitators and para counsellors will be trained and provide MHPSS level 3 and level 4 services in Women and Girls Friendly Spaces. 
-	Adolescent- and Youth Clubs: Adolescent Clubs and Youth Clubs will be strengthened by the facilitation of monthly discussions, quarterly meetings in which technical support will be provided, the provision of visibility materials to enhance awareness raising within their communities and training the club members on prevention and mitigation of GBV risks.  
-	Protection awareness raising: awareness raising will specifically focus on the prevention and mitigation of GBV risks. This will be done by supporting community-based GBV structures, the celebration of events, training of stakeholders in the communities and quarterly dialogue sessions with men and traditional leaders on GBV prevention. 
-	Peacebuilding component: supporting a nexus approach, the project will also entail a peacebuilding component that seeks to foster peaceful coexistence between host communities and refugees/IDPs. 

Food Security and Livelihoods:
-	Support youth with start-up business: selected youth will be provided with training on entrepreneurship and financial management. After receiving a small cash grant to start their business, they will be mentored and coached.
-	Agricultural support: selected households will be provided with seeds, tools and training on climate-smart agriculture to support their agricultural practices.
-	Provision of fishing kits and canoes, accompanied by training on fish preservation techniques and fishing practices.

Multipurpose Cash:
-	Multipurpose cash: vulnerable households – especially high-risk adolescents and their caregivers - will be provided with MPC to meet basic household requirements and enhance their resilience and dignity. 
-	Cash for Work: vulnerable community members, especially older out-of-school adolescents and youth who reached the legal working age, will be selected and provided with CfW activities. 

As part of localisation efforts, the national partner receives a substantial amount of the budget for project implementation and capacity strengthening. Furthermore, key local actors such as line ministries, health workers, police, teachers and courts will be trained under this project. To ensure Accountability to Affected Populations, three committees in both Malakal and Melut will be actively involved throughout the project cycle.