Applying Community-Driven Development to Strengthen Resilience in a Conflict Setting: Lessons from South Sudan

PROPEL-South Sudan End-Line Report

The USAID Promoting Resilience through Ongoing Participatory Engagement and Learning (PROPEL) program was designed to foster social cohesion and resilience in targeted communities in Jonglei, Lakes, and Eastern and Central Equatoria states in South Sudan through a Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach. PROPEL provided material improvements in the lives of community members and at the same time strengthened the communities’ capacity to drive their own development through harnessing their own resources, leveraging other donor-funded programs, and advocating for additional support to implement projects that address priority needs.

The purpose of this document is to share findings that informed a unified CDD methodology for USAID implementing partners in South Sudan (see PROPEL’s CDD Methodology for South Sudan1). This end-line report presents PROPEL’s social capital outcomes assessed through a baseline-to-end-line comparison of quantitative and qualitative results. It also addresses six learning questions designed to test PROPEL’s development hypothesis, and provide evidence-based recommendations for CDD implementation in varied contexts in South Sudan, also relevant for humanitarian and development interventions. To learn more, read the rest of the Executive Summary.