Quarterly Performance Report: Pathways to Resilience (P2R), South Sudan

The program covers two states in South Sudan: Jonglei and Eastern Equatoria. P2R responds to the needs of host and returnee populations who have experienced decades of conflict and other natural shocks/stressors in Jonglei and Eastern Equatoria States. The program's key programming components include livelihoods/income generation activities, social cohesion programming, and building government and community capacity targeted at food insecure communities. P2R works closely with the state-level coordination forums led by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as well as with other USAID-funded programs in Jonglei and Eastern Equatoria States. The program leverages resources from pipeline partners, including the World Food Program (WFP) and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). During the first quarter of the project, P2R focused on project start-up, preparation for implementation, and monitoring, evaluation, and accountability. However, the project experienced security challenges in Eastern Equatoria due to cattle raiding, revenge killings, and opportunistic roadside attacks, which limited road movement to project sites and hindered the transport of supplies. Continued flooding in Jonglei displaced people and limited movement, requiring the project team to adapt plans and activities to ensure achievement of objectives and maintain safe programming. The project established its project coordination unit offices in Torit and secured office locations in Akobo, Kapoeta North, and Budi. P2R procured 64 SILC boxes, 192 padlocks, 64 counter books, calculators, rulers, pens, and printed SILC FA guidance books for SILC activities. The project also procured 60 laptops and 65 ICT4D gadgets for use by P2R and are ready to be shipped to South Sudan in April. P2R did not conduct any activities or distribute goods in the quarter as it was focused on start-up and preparatory stages. However, the project designed a standard operating procedure for social cohesion activities and organized required training materials. The project also facilitated an orientation session with 40 CRS and partner staff and stakeholders and secured a senior trauma specialist to provide training to staff and partner representatives on trauma awareness and resilience (TAR) in future quarters. The project formed two farmer groups in Duk County, Greater Jonglei, with one group made up of 4 women and 16 men and another made of 1 woman and 19 men. P2R conducted a market and contexts monitoring assessment in areas of project implementation to understand existing coordination mechanisms, humanitarian needs, security situation, availability and cost of goods and services, and accessibility to project areas. The assessment also helped to confirm the feasibility of using cash distribution modality as an alternative to food commodity in some of the counties like Akobo, Kapoeta North.