This report is based on qualitative fieldwork conducted in Uror and Nyirol Counties, Jonglei State, South Sudan and a household survey conducted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and SLRC in 2012. Together these studies comprise a baseline analysis of livelihoods, access to social services and people’s perceptions of participation and governance.
The report finds:
In general, the provision of social services does not appear to particularly influence people’s perceptions of the state and state legitimacy. These perceptions are largely formed by other factors.
Security was the primary demand directed at the government by respondents. Security was described as the key condition for improved livelihoods and service delivery.
The degree of insecurity, and the perceived lack of fairness in the means of providing for security, are the two main factors affecting people’s perceptions of the state in the two counties.
There is a need for improved delivery of basic services and social protection in the visited areas, though the prevalent insecurity meant that these issues, and their impact on perceptions of governance, were not at the centre of most respondents’ attention.
There is a particular need to better understand livelihoods, service delivery, and state perceptions in the context of Pibor County (which is the focus of a forthcoming SLRC report).
