Article summary
Build a provenance chain for every handoff of a South Sudan +211 list before interpreting WhatsApp Registration results.
When a South Sudan +211 list passes through resellers, regional teams or forwarded spreadsheets, the first thing lost is often who collected it, when and why. Registration checking can observe account state; it cannot restore a broken provenance chain.
Add one record for every handoff
| Handoff field | Required content |
|---|---|
| from/to | Sender and recipient |
| handoff_at | Time |
| row_count | Transferred count |
| purpose | Permitted use |
| transform | Changes made |
Pause when provenance cannot be explained
A filename, chat-group title or “the partner said it is usable” is not a complete record. Quarantine phones beyond a provenance break instead of mixing them with first-party data.
Preserve notation during +211 conversion
Never overwrite phone_raw; create an international candidate in a new field. Do not prepend +211 twice. Country or length conflicts enter review and must not be repaired through bulk guessing.
The boundary of Registration
TXT contains one phone per line, and Excel returns phone plus registration observation. It does not prove SIM validity, holder identity, location or permission to contact.
Close the count at every transfer
Record input, deduplicated, exception and output counts. Resolve unexplained missing or extra rows before checking so results can return to the correct source.
Send unknowns to the right owner
Formatting issues return to cleanup, provenance gaps to the handoff owner and task unknowns to execution review. They must not all be renamed “unregistered.”
Do not distribute Excel through the whole chain
Provide minimum results according to purpose. Only responsible roles receive the private crosswalk and full conflict table. Prior access to the list is not permanent entitlement to results.
Permission does not copy with forwarding
A new entity, purpose or channel may require a new assessment even when the original team had a basis for contact. Registration output cannot fill that gap.
The South Sudan operating standard
Every phone should trace from original source to TXT row and from returned Excel to the same record. When it cannot, pausing matters more than increasing the registration rate.
