Urbanisation in South Sudan is unique because of its increasing ratio, complexity and enormous opportunities for reintegration of returnees after the declaration of the country's independence on 9 July 2011. According to statistics of IOM from October 2012, the number of returnees between October 2010 and October 2012 in Western Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria was 197,027 with continued new arrivals every day. A fast horizontal sprawling of state capitals and major towns is observed, with low income groups settling in urban and peri-urban areas and provoking slum formation. The debate in South Sudan is whether it is better for the returnees to go back to their original villages where they can access land for agriculture, or to settle in urban areas where they can access basic services and job opportunities. Although it is understood that returnees should make their choice freely, humanitarian organisations should not forget the high social cost of recent mass evictions and demolition campaigns in informal urban areas nor underestimate the critical importance of designing long term spatial development mechanisms and capacities in the short term to prevent potential conflict and to contribute to peace stabilisation. Therefore, a proactive approach is needed to ensure a more sustainable returnee reintegration process and prevent slum formation through application of provision of adequate housing conditions and basic services, establishment of livelihood options for returnees and equitable and planned land allocation. It is suggested to start working in the states with high numbers of returnees to build basic institutional capacities through on-the-job training and implementation of demonstration activities. While targeted direct beneficiaries of this project are returnees and host communities, the main project counterparts of UN-Habitat will be the Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning (MHPP) of the government of South Sudan (GoSS) and the Ministries of Physical Infrastructure (MoPIs) of the three targeted states.<?xml:namespace>
Through this initiative UN-Habitat will provide adequate housing conditions and basic community infrastructure through participatory approach and on-the-job institutional capacity building, set an example and develop strategies for national housing delivery and urban planning for replication and scaling up and promote the use of low-cost and environmental-friendly construction techniques which can also sustain livelihoods and support urban and regional planning and land management. This will be done in close coordination with GoSS as well as other UN agencies and international bi/multilateral partners working on return and reintegration issues.
Although construction of permanent housing, support to sustainable livelihood and planning are often considered to be development activities, in context of South Sudan, where thousands have already returned and need support to settle and re-integrate in existing urban areas, quickly for sake of human security and prevention of new conflicts in this still very vulnerable country which has its internal issues with negative potentials, this project has a clear emergency character. The project is designed for a quick and measurable impact: provide houses, support livelihoods and reintegration within host communities in a planned manner. Planning and capacity building of government authorities is included through a form of on-the-job trainings which would create conditions for construction and reintegration in planned settlements and lay the foundation and an example for continued reintegration process.
