World Vision Germany commissioned an in-depth study with a primary focus on project-level programmatic implementation and coordination across the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus in South Sudan. The study has a particular focus on how two specific projects – linked together within the German Chapeau framework – worked together and coordinated within and across the HDP nexus in the region of Northern Bahr al Ghazal in South Sudan - a region grappling with a web of mutually reinforcing shocks and crises.
The study in particular aimed to assess how effectively the two projects were linked, which complementarities and gaps emerged as well as which transferable lessons can be extracted for future Nexus design in South Sudan and similar fragile settings. Both projects drew on World Vision’s Fragile Contexts Programme Approach (FCPA), which stresses adaptability, participatory planning and community-led delivery—principles that mirror the Nexus recommendations developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC).
This study followed a qualitative research design anchored in a thorough desk review, thirty purposively selected key informant interviews and eight focus group discussions with staff, partners, authorities, and community representatives in Northern Bahr el Ghazal. A structured coding framework guided analysis; findings were then triangulated and refined through revision cycles, ensuring credibility and immediate utility for programme adaptation.
The study shows that aligning humanitarian and development efforts is possible—even in fragile, flood-prone areas—when there is strong field coordination, flexible management, and locally embedded teams. It aims therefore also to strengthen evidence-based practice, refine WVG’s next generation of programmes, and add empirically-grounded insights to the broader HDP Nexus discourse.