About Us

Our Approach:

Building on POF1's Foundation

The POF1 approach was originally designed around three funding windows in four sub-national locations, and targeting youth who are particularly vulnerable to mobilisation by armed militias, as well as supporting opportunities at the national level. Since its inception, POF2 has evolved its approach. A key achievement was the establishment of Peace Canal, a national NGO that has become POF2's primary partner in design and implementation. The geographic focus has strategically narrowed to prioritize conflict systems within Lakes and Greater Jonglei/Pibor. However, it continues to monitor opportunities to expand the scope to draw in border dynamics of these systems.

Advisor-Led Model for Deep Community Engagement

POF2 continues to implement the advisor-led approach distilled during POF1. Our advisors are hired directly from the programme’s target communities to co-create and deliver conflict and culturally sensitive interventions with a high degree of accountability. This approach ensures that communities are intimately engaged in the design, implementation and monitoring of POF2 interventions.

Expanding Our Focus: Livelihoods and National NGO Capacity Building

POF2 will build on the successes of POF1 through an expanded focus on Livelihoods and the capacity building of national NGOs. Our Livelihoods Lab will identify and design livelihoods pilots that provide alternatives to violence and strengthen integration between and within communities. Following the pilot phase, successful interventions will be purposefully scaled up and positioned to secure funding from external sources. 

Our expanded focus on capacity building recognises that national partners are critical to the success and sustainability of POF2 interventions. Our experience from POF1 highlights the importance of engaging with national partners early in the process and throughout implementation, to ensure that interventions are both relevant and contextually appropriate.

Adaptive Programming and Continuous Learning

Learning remains at the centre of POF’s adaptive programming. In the different locations, we start with small, iterative interventions that target the programme outcomes. In the process, the team actively documents learning, sharing within the location teams as well as across locations. Over time, the area team, with local partners on the one hand, and the wider POF team on the other, evolve the activities in the direction of what’s working, and inevitably scale down other activities for which there is little or no evidence of the intended impact.  

POF2’s Outcomes:

POF2’s aim is that local communities in our target conflict hotspots are better able to jointly interrupt and prevent cycles of violence in increasingly inclusive and climate- sensitive ways, and are increasingly socially cohesive, improving their resilience to external manipulation.

This expected primary outcome builds on the strong progress made by POF1 in fostering harmony and conflict resilience within targeted communities. It further aims to strengthen inclusive political, socio-economic, and cultural institutions at all levels - critical for managing conflict and establishing the conditions for sustained peace.