Semi-Annual Report (October 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018)

The primary objective of the research grant is to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian programming through generating evidence on how interventions can strengthen affected populations' social capital as a key aspect of resilience, recovery, and relief interventions in complex humanitarian emergencies. Initial activities focused on start-up activities for grant implementation, including administrative and grant setup activities. Mercy Corps completed a sub-award for Tufts/Feinstein International Center, started and completed internal recruitment of key personnel, and hired a Research Manager. The organization also submitted a detailed workplan and M&E plan to OFDA and provided revisions based on OFDA comments and feedback, which were approved. Key stakeholders were engaged through discussions and briefings, including a program start-up briefing meeting in South Sudan in October 2017 and a program briefing with the Uganda team via Skype in November 2017. The primary objectives of these preliminary discussions were to provide a background of the research grant, flesh out the research concept note and key themes to explore, and gain buy-in, understanding, and relevance of the research concepts among the field teams. Field visits were conducted in both Uganda and South Sudan in March 2018. In Uganda, the team visited West Nile and spoke with a total of 15 individuals and groups, including Ugandans and South Sudanese. In South Sudan, the team visited Panyinjar and completed 14 individual and group interviews. The field visits aimed to ground the actual situation with the research concepts among the field teams and to conduct preliminary field visits to interview individuals and groups to understand the interplay between social connections, economic linkages, and how people use their social connections to cope during a crisis situation. The research team conducted individual and group discussions with target communities/beneficiaries of a similar profile. The primary objectives of the field visits were to unpack the practical implications of the key research concepts in the target intervention locations. Following the field visits, the teams synthesized the key themes from both the field visits and discussed the next steps for the inception/design workshop as well as objectives to be achieved during the workshop and inception phase outputs. The research team also conducted focus group discussions with the target population in both Uganda and South Sudan. A total of 29 individuals and groups were interviewed, including market actors, farmers, and community leaders. The interviews aimed to understand the interplay between social connections, economic linkages, and how people use their social connections to cope during a crisis situation. The research findings indicate that social connections play a crucial role in the coping and recovery of vulnerable populations in South Sudan and Uganda. The research team observed that social connections underpin livelihoods, trade, money flows, and aid. The economic interventions on both sides of the border fall along a range of Mercy Corps' economic intervention spectrum, allowing for the exploration of the interplay of social connectedness among South Sudanese and the impact this has on their ability to cope and recover. The research team plans to conduct a design workshop in June 2018 to further develop the research concept and objectives. The workshop will bring together key stakeholders, including Mercy Corps, Tufts, and OFDA, to discuss the research design, methodology, and implementation plan. The research team aims to generate evidence on how interventions can strengthen affected populations' social capital as a key aspect of resilience, recovery, and relief interventions in complex humanitarian emergencies.