My experience as humanitarian worker in Serbia, Bosnia, South Sudan, others- Elizabeth Pennington

Elizabeth Pennington is a Programmes and Communications Specialist from England with a particular focus on refugee, displaced and marginalised populations. She is a specialist in sexual gender based violence in emergencies and holds a Masters degree in International Development from the University of East Anglia (U.K). She has worked across Bosnia, Serbia, Morocco and Uganda before being based in South Sudan. Elizabeth is a Global Youth Ambassador for TheirWorld.

She speaks Spanish, intermediate French and KiSwahili and desires to work further within conflict and displacement contexts. In this interview with voiceforafricanmigrants.org, she shares her amazing experience as a humanitarian worker. Excerpts:

1. What motivated you to engage in humanitarian work?
I started working in the humanitarian sector in 2017 in Serbia; when I began working with refugee and displaced populations on a voluntary basis with a Paris-based grassroots NGO that was conducting art therapy workshops for refugee children and their families to share their stories and experiences – in their own way. It really impacted me in such a deep way – I was 20 years old at the time. From there I went to Bosnia, Morocco and more recently Uganda with the same organisation, in both a communications and later a gender violence specialist capacity. Over those few years, I’d met mothers who had seen their children murdered by Islamic State in Syria, children who’d seen their parents murdered, met fathers who begged my team and I for baby formula which couldn’t be given for three days because it had to be rationed…. All these early experiences really shaped and informed the work I wanted to do, and continue to do now through my work in South Sudan. My biggest life lessons have come from the people I’ve met often in displacement settings; those who have lost everything and yet are simply for grateful for life. You’re never the same after those kinds of experiences. It gives my life a whole new meaning.

2.How is life in South Sudan and how long have you been there?
Life in South Sudan is great; it’s certainly different from what I imagined my life would be at 26 years old but I wouldn’t have it any other way at the moment. I knew I wanted a change and wanted to push myself. I connected with this national NGO here and expressed my interest in working with them, and a conversation turned into a job offer. I’ve only been in South Sudan for about six weeks currently so not long at all. It’s certainly not something I would advise to every young person wishing to start a humanitarian career. Most people come to South Sudan much later in their career – But the people of South Sudan are so warm, so kind and hospitable; It’s really been a beautiful thing to experience and to learn from the people here.

3. Conflict areas are usually unsafe. Why would you leave a safe environment for one that is not so safe?
The important thing to note here is that South Sudan gained it’s independence from Sudan in 2011. It’s the newest country in the world. In 2013 the country descended into a brutal civil war lasting around 5 years. There are still areas of conflict and fragility absolutely; post-conflict nations remain fragile and it’s important to be very aware of how situations can change very quickly. I think I have always tried to not let fear stop me from doing something. I think that by virtue of being a humanitarian worker and committing a proportion of my life to being a humanitarian; there’s a understanding that I’d work in fragile contexts because that’s where my passion is…. South Sudan is a beautiful country. It’s people are incredibly resilient and strong. It’s humbling and important to recognise this country’s past but also equally as important I think to help shape it’s narrative to a wider audience who maybe don’t know about the country.

4. Tell us about the activities of Wart South Sudan and your role in the organisation.
So Women Agency for Resilience and Transformation (WART – South Sudan) works across five thematic areas: Protection (GBV / child protection), Food Security and Livelihoods, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Health/Nutrition and Education. I am the organisations Programmes and Communications Specialist, with a focus in our protection programmes within GBV because that’s my academic background within my Masters degree where I studied International Development; focusing on Education in Emergencies and Conflict Related Sexual Violence.

5.What has been your experience working in South Sudan so far?
Different from what I expected, but in the best way. Unfortunately within the media, particularly where I grew up in England – and Europe in general I feel, there is a very stereotyped view of countries within Africa. You tend to only hear the negative…. So my view of South Sudan was tainted by that violent conflict backdrop. The war in the country of Sudan had begun only a couple of months before and so on the media it was news reports from Sudan. I had a lot of family and friends worrying because I was, in their view, going to Sudan – without yet realising South Sudan’s independence. So that’s been interesting and an education. I love working in South Sudan. I feel my purpose is in such sharp focus here in way it hasn’t been for years. Everything is contextualised here; from within university for example. It’s seeing change in-country in real time, and that’s very powerful and it’s wonderful to know that my friends and family are also learning as well. It’s been good to have reflected perhaps a different narrative to what we might have read or seen in the news media.

6. What is the state of humanitarian crisis in the country as I read somewhere that many aid workers have been killed?
The humanitarian landscape is certainly complex. 40 aid workers have lost their lives in South Sudan this year. According to the United Nations, it’s the most dangerous country to be an aid worker currently. However, it is also relative to where you are located in the country. Here in the capital city Juba, where I’m based most of the time, it’s stable – though there are armed groups and inter-community fighting and clashes elsewhere which has meant our teams in-country have had to take additional safety precautions. It’s a continual review process. As I mentioned before, being a humanitarian worker, we are motivated to support those living within fragile and complex contexts because they are the people often in most need of assistance. Without humanitarian organisations operating or being allowed to operate within such areas, then these people would suffer even greater than they already are.

7. Are there sufficient relief materials for the people?
Unfortunately, South Sudan, like so many protracted contexts around the world is under-funded. The war in Ukraine for perspective is the only fully-funded humanitarian emergency in the world. Crises within Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and beyond have remained under-resources for years. With conflict, the price of fuel goes up meaning we as an organisation and many others have to spend more money to reach our beneficiaries – who are often in remote and hard to access areas.

8. How about the challenge of displacement? What percentage of the population is displaced?
Currently there’s around 2.3 million people who are internally displaced within South Sudan; often to conflict, but also climate change. In Unity State which is the north of the country, flood waters have failed to recede for over four years which has caused even more displacement and humanitarian suffering. Now with the war in Sudan, further 275,000 refugees and returnees have arrived which has only stretched humanitarian resources and funding even thinner” ; so the humanitarian challenges within South Sudan are immense.

9. What is the fate of women and children?
Within any protracted emergency context, women and girls are deeply impacted and South Sudan is not immune to this. The challenges for women and girls are great in number; however, it’s also deeply linked within cultural context. Violence against women and girls is unfortunately exacerbated within emergencies, often due to increased gender inequality and unequal ideas of societal gender norms. That being said; the women and girls I’ve met here in South Sudan and globally, there are the most resilient and compassionate individuals. 1 in 3 women statistically will experience a form of gender violence in their lifetime. And yet; they are survivors. Survivors of SGBV and violence more broadly, they are the ones who know what they need the most. It’s about giving women and girls the platform to share their voices loudly; boldly and with freedom; in knowing the power of their voice and their experience matters.

10. You engage men and boys in GBV prevention programming. How successful has this been?
We do. At Women Agency for Resilience and Transformation (WART); our GBV Prevention programme has two components. The first is our IMPOWER training which trains women and girls in the verbal and physical skills to protect themselves from sexual violence. The second element is for the boys and men and this is known as Y-MOT which stands for Your Moment of Truth which emphasises on building one’s courage and the importance of positive bystander intervention. A change a mindset. The results I’ve received from my team have been really impactful and so inspiring: it’s wonderful to be a part of an organisation that recognises the import role boys and men within society have in preventing sexual gender based violence towards women and girls. Very few organisations I’ve seen are actively working in very proactive and engaged way to end SGBV. It’s not an overnight change by any means but knowing I’m playing an part is deeply humbling and inspiring.

11. How does climate crisis affect the people and the communities?
As we’ve seen over the past five years or so, climate shocks have only been increasing in frequency and volatility. Increasing temperatures have caused drought in areas which is further lead to famine. In other instances as I mentioned, extreme rainfall and flooding have submerged towns and villages in South Sudan for the past four years in some areas. This means that people cannot cultivate their land, their crops and animals die. This has increased the risks to children also, when families are under strain this can lead to more early and forced marriages, as culturally this can be a way of being seen to provide financial stability to their families. The risks here from climate change is immense and immediate.

12. How has the crisis in Sudan affected humanitarian situation in South Sudan?
The conflict in Sudan has increased the pressure on bordering countries. There was already dire humanitarian need for the South Sudanese population before this crisis started – now it’s only compounded these needs. From my work in Uganda previously, the openness of many African countries in terms of having an open border policy is wonderful. This is certainly not the case in Europe. I believe it’s about finding longer term solutions to supporting refugee and displaced populations, how countries and governments can work together to stabilise conflict-affected countries; the vast majority of displaced people I’ve met over the past five years working in this sector in emergencies, they want to return home. They don’t want to be refugees or be displaced. So if anything, this crisis also teaches me to simply be grateful because you never know when a situation might change life as we know it. We in Europe certainly realised this with Ukraine.

13. After South Sudan, where next would your humanitarian engagement take you to?
I don’t know yet. I’m in South Sudan for a minimum of a year so I can’t say at the moment where I’ll be working after South Sudan. I just hope that I can continue to work within this sector, particularly within a SGBV and protection capacity. I’m always very curious to explore opportunities and I have many wonderful friends here, many of whom are also in the sector and are very experienced humanitarians so it’s drawing from them a lot – but I don’t yet have a grand plan for my career.

14.Humanitarian support is said to be declining.If this stops from international donors, what would be the fate of people in conflict areas.
I think the short answer is that many would suffer. But I also believe very strongly that it’s up to the international organisations to work in a more national/localised partnership; to support the capacity building of individuals – to build up their economic growth and empowerment. It’s about building sustainable solutions within agriculture in livelihood programming to enable communities to be more self-sufficient; to engage national organisations within peace building because they are ones, the citizens who are going to lead the country after the international organisations have left and the funding has gone.