Between August and September 2024, YSAT placed funding decisions directly in the hands of 15 community groups in Pibor Town through Survivor and Community-Led Response grants, reaching 567 people directly and almost 2,300 more through wider advocacy.
Traditional grant programmes often decide in advance exactly what a community needs and how money should be spent, leaving little room for local groups to direct resources toward the priorities they themselves identify. For internally displaced persons, refugees, persons living with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups in Pibor Town, this can mean support that does not match their actual circumstances.
The Survivor and Community-Led Response (SCLR) approach reverses that dynamic. Between August and September 2024, YSAT disbursed grants ranging from $200 to $7,000 to 15 selected community groups in Pibor Town — including youth groups, women's groups, associations, and community-based organisations — to design and implement their own initiatives aimed at improving livelihoods and strengthening social cohesion.
Alongside these grants, YSAT supported women-led business groups directly, helping them develop work plans and budgets. This planning support later enabled these groups to access small grants of their own to expand their businesses, creating a pathway from initial organisational support to concrete financial resources controlled by the groups themselves.
Overall, the project reached 567 direct beneficiaries in Pibor Town, including internally displaced persons, refugees, persons living with disabilities, and other vulnerable community members. A further approximately 2,300 people were reached indirectly through advocacy and awareness activities connected to the funded initiatives. By emphasising inclusive, community-led approaches, the project empowered organised groups to design and deliver initiatives that benefited the wider community, rather than relying solely on externally designed interventions.
YSAT identified 15 community groups in Pibor Town to receive SCLR grants, including youth groups, women's groups, associations, and community-based organisations. Selection prioritised groups already organised around community priorities, ensuring grants would build on existing local structures rather than create new ones.
Between August and September 2024, YSAT disbursed grants ranging from $200 to $7,000 to the 15 selected groups. The scale of each grant was matched to the group's proposed initiative, allowing smaller, more targeted activities and larger, more ambitious community projects to be funded side by side.
Beyond the core SCLR grants, YSAT worked directly with women-led business groups to develop work plans and budgets. This planning support later enabled these groups to access additional small grants to expand their businesses, linking organisational development directly to concrete financial opportunity.
Each funded group designed and implemented its own initiative to improve livelihoods and strengthen social cohesion, directly reaching 567 beneficiaries in Pibor Town, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and persons living with disabilities. Advocacy and awareness activities connected to these initiatives reached a further approximately 2,300 people indirectly.
Community groups received SCLR grants in Pibor Town
Maximum grant size, with awards starting from $200
Direct beneficiaries, including IDPs, refugees and persons with disabilities
Approximate additional people reached through advocacy and awareness