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Lileer People-to-People Reconciliation
Facilitated USAID's Resettlement Activity
Upper Nile is a region of many ethnic groups-Nuer,
Dinka, Murle, Shilluk, Anyuak, Juur, etc.-many of whose traditional
pastoralist conflicts have been exacerbated by the discovery
and development of oil, especially in Western Upper Nile.
In 1993, the Dinka of Bor County were attacked in a massive
offensive by Nuer militias and many of them fled their homes
to Eastern Equatoria. USAID is the major donor for maintenance
of 200,000 of these internally displaced people (IDPs) from
Upper Nile who have lived in camps in Eastern Equatoria, at
a cost of about $6 million per year, and for people-to-people
reconciliation activities of the New Sudan Council of Churches
(NSCC).
In FY 2000, USAID supported the Lileer people-to-people
reconciliation between four Nilotic peoples of the East Bank
of the Nile. The Lileer reconciliation, along with the Wunlit
reconciliation of 1999, contributed to the climate of confidence
that encouraged 2,000 Dinka from Bor County to return home
from IDP camps in Eastern Equatoria. Their resettlement was
supported by USAID through international NGOs and the World
Food Program. Murle and Anyuak people have begun to move their
cattle closer to the Bor Dinka and USAID's partners attribute
the peaceful situation to the increases in IDP camp inhabitants
who are considering moving back to Bor this year, perhaps
as many as 10-15,000 IDPs this year. This will further reduce
tensions and conflict in Equatoria and reduce the costs of
humanitarian aid to the IDP camps.
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Hamsa Hamsa: Empowering Women through
Income Generating Activities
Hamsa Hamsa, a women's group in Rumbek County,
has achieved impressive results with a grant from the Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) Grant-Making Capacity Building program,
funded by USAID. The group, comprising 30 sub-groups of five
women each, is intended to provide women with the resources
to undertake various income-generating activities. Under the
CRS grant, each woman received $480, half of it as a loan,
to invest as she wanted. Many successful enterprises were
started, including one by the "Panda" sub-group,
who pooled their resources to build huts to rent out as a
hotel. The Panda Hotel was such a success in hosting visitors
to Rumbek that the women were able to pay back their entire
loan in one year. In addition, the activity inspired them
to learn new skills and participate in adult literacy courses.
This activity also had positive indirect impacts on the women's
families, with their husbands taking on some of the burdens
of the household tasks. The women have also come to value
education and literacy for their children, as they see the
benefits that education brings to running a business.
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Wulu Oil Mill Cooperative
Upon receiving a grant from Catholic Relief
Services' Grant-Making Capacity Building program (funded by
USAID), the Mother's Union cooperative in Wulu purchased an
oil mill from Nairobi, Kenya to use for processing shea/lulu
nut oil. The production of shea/lulu nut oil is traditionally
a woman's job in southern Sudan and it is a long and arduous
process when done by hand. The oil mill has allowed the women
to process more oil with considerably less effort. In seven
month's time, the cooperative generated enough revenue to
cover the cost of the mill. In addition, shea nut oil is now
being purchased directly from Wulu to be marketed in Kenya
and Uganda. The success of this venture has had the indirect
effect of further monetizing economic activities in southern
Sudan and demonstrating to others in Wulu that it is possible
to invest in profitable enterprises.
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Trade and Market Data Collection System
Supported with funds from USAID's Office of
U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), a Sudanese consultant
has set up an effective data collection system in the stable
areas of Western Equatoria and Bahr el Ghazal to track various
indicators on markets, trade, and food security. On a regular
basis, a network of local enumerators are now collecting information
on farm level activities, livestock health and markets, crop
production and trade, cross-border trade in manufactured goods,
market prices, and the flow of timber. This data collection
system is not only of significant use to the local population
in southern Sudan, but also to USAID's efforts to measure
the impact of our programs. It is a model of a low-cost, comprehensive,
and effective data collection system that can be replicated
in other parts of the region.
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