The contribution of the diaspora to the reconstruction of education in South Sudan: the challenge of being involved from a distance

Abstract

Conflicts all over the world result in people living in diaspora, usually maintaining strong ties with their countries of origin. As many of them are well educated and dedicated to their country, expectations of the role they can play in the development of their home country are high. This article reflects on the contribution of the South Sudanese diaspora to the reconstruction of the education system, which was badly affected by over 40 years of civil war. Theories of capacity development, human capabilities and transnationalism are used to build a framework to analyse micro-development projects in the education sector initiated by the South Sudanese diaspora. Case studies and in-depth interviews led to the identification of opportunities and challenges as experienced in these projects. The conclusion points to the need to rethink partnerships in the reconstruction of the education sector in South Sudan.

Keywords:

• diaspora
• post-conflict education
• capacity development
• international cooperation
• transnationalism
• partnerships
• South Sudan

Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank the interviewees from the South Sudanese diaspora for the openness with which they shared their experiences and reflections on their beloved country with us. Also, we thank Cootje Logger, Paul Wabike and Jacques Zeelen for their comments to fine-tune the direction and the analysis of the research.

Notes

1. The Early School Leaving in Africa (ESLA) project is a joint research project of scholars from Africa and the Netherlands, carrying out research on causes, prevention and intervention strategies of early school leaving, leading to scientific publications and recommendations for policies and practices.

2. Pseudonyms are used for the organisations as well as for their initiators.

3. Examples of events attended by one or more of the authors are: Sudanese-Dutch family day, September 2010, organised by a group of Sudanese and Dutch people; documentary Hinterland on South Sudan, November 2011 in International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam; seminar on perspectives for South Sudan, March 2012 by Dutch NGO; workshops on micro-development projects, in April and July 2012 by the Diaspora Forum for Development.