Exchange to Change Sept 2017 20170911 E2C zomer web | Page 8

8 INTERVIEW civilians out of the three counties to an area called Aburoc IDP camp. Cordaid and others agencies’ assets were looted during the April 2017 attack on Kodok Town (capital of Shilluk). All humanitarian staff fled Kodok to Aburoc, bordering Sudan. Together with more than 30 humanitarian staff, I was evacuated from Aburoc at the end of April to Juba. But at the moment Cordaid and its partner are resuming the implementation of the project as the situation is somehow improving. E2C: Within this challenging setting, which actions or results did you achieve that you are particularly proud of? LDA: Above all, I am proud of implementing resilience activities to make sure the linking of relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD) pioneered by Cordaid is realized in South Sudan. Cordaid’s approach, linking the emergency program with resilience program (PRO- ACT project), is in action in Upper Nile in order to help transform the lives of the community while taking care of emergency needs. Most households have insufficient food and need to be assisted in order to spend time on the project. Through a Dutch humanitarian public funding campaign, Cordaid has gathered resources, which will be used to support the community and create a link between the PRO-ACT project and humanitarian responses. Last but not least, I am proud of the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach that forms the basic structure for the whole project and also the Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) approach that brings people together within the same community to empower them to jointly address a common disaster risk and to communally pursue common disaster risk reduction measures. The basic strategy is to work with and support community groups and county structures to identify and jointly implement food security and disaster resilient activities. E2C: Which actions have been taken by the actors in the field and how adequate are these actions according to you? LDA: Humanitarian agencies need increased funding from donors to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs in the country and continue the support for recovery and resilience. The absence of access due to the conflict precludes aid workers from quickly reaching those in need in remote parts of the country. With regard to ending the bloody civil conflict that has engulfed the nation since December 2013, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has already made several attempts to bring peace and a handful of peace agreements have been signed (the most recent was signed in August 2015). However, they have been repeatedly violated and the situation remains highly unstable. There is an ongoing effort by the South Sudan government for national dialogue - which is appreciated. However, to make the national dialogue an inclusive process opposition groups should also be enabled to participate actively. RR: Most Western donor governments decided to untie food aid, which is a major achievement. Admittedly, the major reason that the EU, for instance, abandoned its price support schemes was not the recognition that the tied food aid may not have been very efficient, and even detrimental to recipient countries, but rather that such policies did not achieve their main goal, to mitigate against the consequences of the shift of economic opportunities from agriculture to the secondary and tertiary sectors. But two problems remain. First, in times of food crises, there are just not enough resources to address the most pressing needs. And second, the US, with half of all food aid the largest donor by far, keeps much of its aid Kujiek with vulnerable section of the c