Enhancing Food Security and Livelihoods Support Among Vulnerable Populations in Yei County Extreme levels of acute food insecurity are projected to persist in Yei due to bureaucratic impediments, operational interference and access constraints attributed to insecurity and cases of Gender Based Violence along major roads with humanitarian agencies facing challenges to reach displaced and vulnerable people. Extreme food insecurity is projected to continue through 2019 with IPC Phase 3 or worse projections in Yei (IPC June 2019 FSNMS, 2019). A large number of returnees including displaced populations reported lack of food, seeds, tools, shelter among other basic life support amenities (IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix, April 2019 OCHA South Sudan Situation Reports, 2019).  

Stop Poverty Communal Initiative (SPOCI) aims to respond and scale up emergency food security and livelihoods via emergency provision of fishing and vegetable livelihood kits that will provide immediate and short terms access to food and incomes among targeted 3,750 households - 22,500 beneficiaries comprised of 3250 men, 3250 women, 8000 boys and 8000 girls - IDPs, returnees and host populations. 

SPOCI is a national NGO with over 5 years programmatic presence in Greater Equatoria and Jonglei and has in addition currently implementing SSHF and UNICEF funded projects in these regions. SPOCI is a member of National NGOs Steering Committee, member of the ICWG and Accountability to Affected Populations Technical Working Group and Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group. In addition, SPOCI has for the past five years supported over 55,000 vulnerable populations with WASH/Education /FSL interventions through UNICEF, SSHF among other partners support in Jonglei and Equatorias. Through these, the organization has fostered strong linkages with communities, state/county line ministries of Livestock and Fisheries, Agriculture. This is in addition to strong and competent team including staff redeployment to scale up interventions based on needs.

Proposed activities will enable children (boys and girls), youth, men and women including people with special needs recover have improved and diversified access to food, incomes and improved livelihoods in addition to strengthening community capacities to coping with threats. 

Targeted beneficiaries will be consulted and involved in implementation of the project including monitoring and evaluation while taking into consideration Accountability of Affected Populations, Gender Equity, Protection concerns including GBV and sound environmentally friendly approaches and do no harm ethos.

Activities will ensure delivering a package of integrated activities through linkages with others sectors and complementing programs in WASH, Education, Health, Protection to address the high level of food insecurity and malnutrition, by targeting SAM/MAM children and their families coordinate Relief and Rehabilitation Commission other NGO partners such as Concern Worldwide, ACROSS, ARD-Africa, LCED, Titi Foundation, MACDA, UNHCR among others. SPOCI will further integrate the project with other Health-related priorities such as Ebola Task force, WASH, acknowledging that poor WASH services are a key driver to poor health, and ultimately resulting in high malnutrition. This is in addition to regular assessments to mitigate GBV risks including sexual exploitation and abuse.