In 2015, four years after South Sudan gained independence, the peace yearned by the most recent sovereign state remained elusive. Additional counties created to consolidate peace across the country only served to aggravate tensions further. By the end of the year, according to data from UNHCR’s portal, over 700,000 refugees and asylum-seekers resided in the country. Danish Refugee Council, which supplies essential Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) services in South Sudan’s Malakal and Melut counties, set up a SMS-based communications system that would make it easier to interact with the large number of people residing in the camps, while observing their needs of privacy, safety and dignity.
The project, funded by a grant from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), commenced in September 2016 and ran for four months. FrontlineSMS designed a text messaging system that enabled feedback and guidance between DRC’s team and the displaced communities. DRC involved the camp residents in the development and implementation of the FrontlineSMS system, resulting in an effective, timely, and relevant interaction platform.
Two committees represented the interests of the DRC and the two camps, and approximately 70% of the members were females. Arabic language support on the platform meant more people than just English speakers could also participate. DRC provided 600 participants in the two camps with mobile phones and local SIM cards. They would act as representatives between the local committee and camp residents. The local committee would then relay the information to the DRC team. That way, any crisis, food rations, community tiffs, security issues and mobilisation were able to be addressed and resolved using the platform.
“The project promoted women participation in the community. Women in the campsites are always seen as vulnerable and often neglected in decision making. One of the project’s targets was to increase women’s participation in community leadership structures”
The DRC team used four Android phones bundled with FrontlineSync to integrate the SMS portal with four PCs. FrontlineSMS was easy to manage in both campsites. The team was able to interact directly with the residents, address their concerns, conduct surveys, receive and assimilate actionable data, formulate policies and coordinate the population of the growing number of refugees. Information would trickle down to each member of the community, and no one was left out.
SMS became an effective mobilisation tool for community events such as meetings and forums, announced activities planned for the day such as food distribution, and generally provided a wider information sharing coverage. During the duration of the project, DRC staff sent 600 one-way texts four times per week and 600 two-way texts twice per week to the participants. Data was analysed monthly, and pertinent issues addressed on a timely basis.
“The system is also fast and ensures that the community receives firsthand information. This has enabled quick response to the issues raised by the community (as most of them prefer to call in case any incident) as opposed to the regular use of outreach workers in the Protection of Civilian. This saves time and energy as the whole system helps avoid use of community mobilisers as well as reducing the amount of meetings, we would conduct with the community to share information.”
The text messaging system gave the displaced persons in the camps a voice and tool to improve their well-being and become increasingly involved in day-to-day operations of their camps, such as clearing drainage, building broken bridges, and settling inter-communal disagreements. The DRC staff was not only able to tailor and disseminate in-camp communications, but also develop and determine what format is best suited for communicating a message. This imbued a healthy responsive feedback mechanism, and a broadened representation of diverse camp communities through committee formation, deliberation, and support.
Approximately over 60,000 refugees residing in Malakal and Melut camps benefited from the project. They were able to effectively utilise the text messaging system and take ownership of their camps. The residents rose above the conflict and embraced technology to influence program planning and implementation. Information was acted upon timely, saving DRC’s team the hassle of using outreach workers and mobilisers. Also, the number of physical meetings was reduced, and the DRC staff was able to strengthen its CCCM structures and coordinate the delivery and monitoring of humanitarian services to improve the living conditions of the residents.