Too often, displaced communities are told what a project will do for them. Decisions are made in offices far away, and the people most affected are informed only when everything is already decided. The result is projects that do not fit, mistrust over who benefits, and change that disappears when the funding ends.
The Integrated Resilience Empowerment Project (IREP) began differently. At our office in Sudken, Juba, EcoRise South Sudan brought together women’s group representatives, community leaders and our team to launch the project together.
In this meeting, participants heard the purpose of the project and helped shape how it would work. Together, we agreed on who the project would reach, how groups would be selected and how funds would be tracked. Women who are usually treated as beneficiaries sat at the table as partners.
IREP’s goal is to break the barriers to education and economic independence for refugee, IDP and host-community women and children in Gorom Refugee Settlement and Mangala IDP Camp. We know we cannot do that without the communities themselves leading the way.
When people shape a project from day one, they own it. They protect it, hold it accountable and carry it forward long after the project ends. That is why IREP started not with a distribution, but with listening.
#EcoRiseSouthSudan #IREP #SouthSudan #CommunityLed #WomenEmpowerment #Inception
With support from @Cohere and @Quadrature Climate Foundation
