DOCSLIB.ORG

Adolescent Girls in Crisis: Voices from South Sudan

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Adolescent Girls in Crisis: Voices from South Sudan Adolescent Girls in crisis: Voices from South Sudan Ihisa, 12, prepares some of the beans the family received from Plan International (©Plan International) Adolescent girls have immense vulnerabilities in many areas of their lives. But it is clear from the findings in this report that they also play a significant role in the everyday survival of their communities. Therefore – in addition to addressing their vulnerabilities – acknowledging and supporting their resilience will provide an important path out of the current crisis in South Sudan. Contents Executive Summary 1 List of Figures and Tables Figure 1: Five influences on the research 1. Introduction 3 methodology 1.1 The South Sudan Context 4 Figure 2: Sites of data collection 1.2 Research Questions and Goals 4 Table 1: Number of Key Informant 1.3 Research Hypotheses 5 Interviews and Focus Group Discussions by Location 1.4 Methodology 5 Respondents Having Endured 1.5 Data Collection 6 Figure 3: Loss of Close Family Member Due 1.5.1 Quantitative Research 6 to Conflict 1.5.2 Qualitative Research 6 Figure 4: Frequency of Reasons Given for 1.5.3 Sample Questions 7 Non-Enrolment in School: South 1.6 Data Analysis 8 Sudan 1.7 Research Ethics 8 Figure 5: Household Coping Strategies and Frequency Applied in Response to 1.8 Limitations of the Data 8 Food Insecurity 1.9 Literature Review 8 Figure 6: Access to a doctor or hospital by 1.9.1 A Focus upon Adolescent Girls 8 county 1.9.2 The Protracted Crisis Context 10 Figure 7: Parents’ ability to afford healthcare for sick children, by county 2. Research Findings 11 Figure 8: Negative Impact of Conflict on 2.1 Sites of Insecurity 12 State of Mind, by County 2.1.1 Experiences of Violence 12 Figure 9: Psychosocial Distress and Mental 2.1.2 Family Separation 15 Health Issues Experienced by Respondents in Past Two Weeks 2.1.3 Education 16 2.1.4 Economic Insecurity and Acronyms Livelihoods 17 2.1.5 Food Security and Nutrition 18 CEFM Child Early and Forced Marriage 2.1.6 Engagements with the FGD Focus Group Discussion Humanitarian Community 20 GBV Gender-Based Violence 2.1.7 Healthcare 20 KII Key Informant Interview 2.1.8 Security for the Future 23 NGO Non-Government Organisation 2.2 Sites of Resilience 23 MHM Menstrual Hygiene Management SRHR Sexual and Reproductive Health 3. Conclusion and Recommendations 25 Rights 3.1 Concluding Comments 26 3.2 Recommendations 27 3.2.1 Recommendations for All 27 3.2.2 Donors and Policy Makers 27 3.2.3 Practitioners 27 ENDNOTES 28 2 plan-international.org Executive summary Executive Summary Now half a decade long, the conflict in South Sudan has displaced four million people and placed seven million in need of humanitarian assistance.1 While all civilians face multiple forms of insecurity, adolescent girls are affected by this protracted crisis in ways that are different both from adolescent boys and from adult women, and in ways that are often overlooked. This report explores how adolescent girls within two age brackets (aged 10-14 and 15-19) understand the unique impact the crisis has upon them. It seeks to amplify their voices and perceptions of the crisis, and presents their views on how the humanitarian sector might respond. Nyiel writing in her notepad in Baratuku Drawing on data from research conducted with adolescent girls resettlement camp. and their communities in multiple sites in South Sudan and Uganda (©Plan International / Rose+Sjölander) during 2017, this research finds that the following issues are core concerns for adolescent girls: Key findings Physical insecurity Food insecurity Contributions to Healthcare the unpaid and care Adolescent girls report The lack of access economy Alarmingly 26 per cent the threat of physical to sufficient food is of adolescent girls violence as their main also of concern to Adolescent girls report interviewed in South form of insecurity. adolescent girls in making a significant Sudan reported having Most prevalent in their South Sudan with contribution to the considered ending responses is the threat of 77 per cent of those maintenance and their own lives at least gender-based violence interviewed reporting functioning of their once in the last twelve (GBV) with child early that they do not have communities through months and there is and forced marriage enough to eat. Food unpaid economic and little to no evidence (CEFM) being the most insecurity influences care labour. This is that there is any their capacity to commonly reported form primarily done through professional support for lead healthy lives, of GBV. Adolescent girls work in the household, mental health issues. concentrate in school, describe these threats which intensifies Adolescent girls have as a continuum of and often requires during emergencies only sporadic access to insecurity that stretches them to take on extra or parental absence a doctor or hospital for from their experiences at household labour. and can have a physical health needs home, in the community negative impact on and many find the and in the emergency their education and life costs of medicine or context. journeys. treatment prohibitive. plan-international.org 1 Executive summary The research has identified more positive factors also Key recommendations and South Sudanese adolescent girls believe that Recommendations for All their capacity to navigate the • Invest in and deliver specific programmes targeting the unique crisis is enhanced through: needs of adolescent girls. • Fund and deliver age sensitive longer-term programming that Family Cohesion addresses harmful practices and seeks to positively shape gender equality in humanitarian settings. Adolescent girls report that • Support initiatives that build family and community support for the presence of a mother autonomous decision-making for adolescent girls. and father enhances their likelihood of security. This • Promote attitudinal and behavioural change that recognises, and was reported in terms does not devalue, the rights of adolescent girls. of providing protection • Build leadership skills to support adolescent girls’ enhanced from violence committed participation in decision-making. by extended family and community members, Donors and Policy Makers having greater household • Prioritise funding for specialised protection programmes for resources when the family adolescent girls that include access to age-appropriate safe spaces. unit is intact, and in terms of emotional well-being. • Prioritise funding for initiatives that address the multiple and overlapping drivers of CEFM. These should address the immediate drivers of CEFM and put in place longer term prevention and Access to Education mitigation measures. Adolescent girls repeatedly • Prioritise funding for programmes that address the barriers to identify access to education including high school fees, the lack of school resources education as a major (books, pens, etc), teacher recruitment and training, and the protective mechanism in protection of school buildings and infrastructure. their lives. They report • Prioritise funding for the provision of adolescent girl-friendly that education improves information and services, particularly around sexual and future opportunities reproductive health rights. and possibilities for an • Set targets for humanitarian and development funding in regards to the independent livelihood (and inclusion of adolescent girls in all humanitarian activity. as such is a barrier against • Incorporate mechanisms across all investments to assess and forced marriage). They understand the impact on adolescent girls. further note it offers a safe space to develop networks outside of the family. Practitioners • Allow adolescent girls to shape programme design and Resilience implementation process, including ensuring accountability mechanisms are accessible to adolescent girls. While adolescent girls • Ensure humanitarian interventions set clear targets and include experience extreme specific indicators in programme monitoring and evaluation insecurities, they frameworks that assess the outcome of the programme for demonstrate the agency adolescent girls. to positively shape their worlds. By building • Ensure that adolescent mothers and married adolescents are protective relationships included in adolescent-targeted initiatives and general programming. with family, mentors and • Conduct gender analysis for all areas of programming that peer networks, adolescent incorporates differentials for adolescent girls and listens to their girls share and deploy voices and perspectives. the resources, skills, and • Ensure education interventions incorporate and address the barriers knowledge that they have for girls’ participation. These include systemic barriers such as quality acquired to provide for their of education and the burden of household labour as well as practical own and others’ well-being. barriers such as a lack of appropriate sanitation facilities and the financial cost of school fees and materials. 2 plan-international.org Executive summary 1. Introduction Girl outside the abandoned headteacher’s office at their former primary school, Pibor, Jonglei. Understanding the ways (©Plan International) in which adolescent girls experience and navigate the crisis in South Sudan provides a foundation for the humanitarian sector to partner with them in addressing their concerns and increasing their capacities. The following report seeks to promote this understanding, focusing not just on the areas of insecurity for adolescent girls, but also on the positive ways in which they respond
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Women's Informal Peace Efforts
    CMI BRIEF 2018:7 1 NUMBER 7 CMI BRIEF NOVEMBER 2018 Photo courtesy of Isis-WICCE Women’s informal peace efforts: Grassroots activism in South Sudan AUTHORS South Sudanese women have been grossly under-represented Helen Kezie-Nwoha in formal peace negotiations. However, they have been active Juliet Were in informal peacebuilding at the local level where peace means rebuilding society. Such informal peacebuilding is radically different to formal peace negotiations where male warlords and political leaders in new positions of power divide the spoils of war. This brief describes women’s informal peace work in South Sudan, and shows the extensive and valuable, but often unrecognized work that women’s organizations do. We also look at how women’s roles in formal processes are informed by women’s informal work. 2 CMI BRIEF 2018:7 Methodology In this study, we conducted individual and focus groups discussions with women activists from groups located in South Sudan and in Uganda. We completed 21 individual interviews, eight focus group discussions (with a total of 111 women) and two community meetings with 90 women in all. The interviews were conducted between June 2017 and July 2018. Fighting between different warring factions caused delays and made it difficult to access study locations. The long road to peace Women’s role in formal peace processes South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011. Since then, South Sudan has been marred by internal conflicts. What started as a power struggle Women’s under-representation in peace between President Salva Kiir and his deputy, former negotiations is the norm rather than Vice President Riek Machar, quickly devolved into a war the exception.
    [Show full text]
  • Annex 2 USAID South Sudan Gender Based Violence Prevention And
    USAID/SOUTH SUDAN GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND RESPONSE ROADMAP SEPTEMBER 2019 Contract No.: AID-OAA-TO-17-00018 September 26, 2019 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Banyan Global. Contract No.: AID-OAA-TO-17-00018 Submitted to: USAID/South Sudan DISCLAIMER The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or the United States Government. Recommended Citation: Gardsbane, Diane and Aluel Atem. USAID/South Sudan Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response Roadmap. Prepared by Banyan Global. 2019. Cover photo credit: USAID Back Cover photo credit: USAID USAID/SOUTH SUDAN GENDER- BASED VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND RESPONSE ROADMAP SEPTEMBER 2019 Contract No.: AID-OAA-TO-17-00018 4 USAID/SOUTH SUDAN GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND RESPONSE ROADMAP CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 9 1.1 ROADMAP OBJECTIVE 9 1.2 STRUCTURE OF ROADMAP 9 2. INTEGRATING GBV IN THE USAID/SOUTH SUDAN OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK 11 2.1 THEORY OF CHANGE 11 2.2 INTEGRATING THE THEORY OF CHANGE INTO THE USAID/SOUTH SUDAN OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK 12 3. GBV PREVENTION AND RESPONSE ROADMAP PROGRAMMATIC GUIDING PRINCIPLES 19 4. BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER – GBV PREVENTION, MITIGATION AND RESPONSE ROADMAP 27 5. GUIDELINES TO ADDRESS GBV IN MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING 39 6. KEY RESOURCES 41 ANNEX A: GBV PREVENTION AND RESPONSE ROADMAP LITERATURE REVIEW 57 ANNEX B: PROGRAM AND DONOR REPORT 73 ANNEX C: GBV LITERACY TRAINING 95 ANNEX D: LIST OF KEY DOCUMENTS CONSULTED 99 ANNEX E.
    [Show full text]
  • A Strategy for Achieving Gender Equality in South Sudan
    SPECIAL REPORT January 28, 2014 A Strategy for Achieving Gender Equality in South Sudan Jane Kani Edward ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study is a product of the Sudd Institute Gender Fellowship in South Sudan awarded to me to conduct research from June to August 2013. The fellowship was made possible by a generous grant from the United States Institute for Peace (USIP). I am grateful to the Sudd Institute and USIP for making this endeavor possible. Numerous individuals and institutions have made the fellowship and fieldwork particularly successful. I am extremely thankful to government officials, primary school administrators, and members of the faculty of Juba University, who welcomed me to their offices and homes, accepted to be interviewed, and provided important documents used in the analysis of the collected data. Special thanks also to members of Lo’bonog Women Group, Rabita Salam Wa Muhaba, and the Ayiki Farmers Association, who shared their experiences of organizing and the challenges they face. Their participation was critically important in making this study successful. Finally, I would like to thank all the staff of the Sudd Institute in Juba, South Sudan for making my research experience during my visit a success. © The Sudd Institute || SPECIAL REPORT | 2 ABBREVIATIONS AEOs Agricultural Extension Officers CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CPA Comprehensive Peace Agreement ECOSOC Economic and Social Council GAD Gender and Development GBV Gender-Based Violence GOSS Government of Southern
    [Show full text]
  • Country Gender Profile Republic of South Sudan Final Report
    Country Gender Profile Republic of South Sudan Final Report March 2017 Japan International Cooperation Agency（JICA） IC Net Limited EI JR 17-047 Summary Socio-Economic Situation and Gender in South Sudan General Situation of South Sudan/Conflicts in South Sudan The area comprising South Sudan is about 1.7 times the size of Japan with an estimated population of 11.7 million. The majority of which are engaged in nomadic grazing and agriculture. The country has more than 60 ethnic groups and the tensions among them have been a serious issue. The economy depends on its oil reserves. South Sudan achieved its independence in 2011 after two civil wars. However, it is still politically unstable, and this instability has culminated in the political clashes in December 2013 and July 2016. Armed conflicts continue and severely affect the lives of its population. Conflict and Women Conflicts severely affect South Sudanese women socially, economically, physically and psychologically. Sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war during and even after the civil wars, and women continue to suffer. South Sudanese women were also mobilized as soldiers or as supporters during the civil wars. Their involvement in the civil wars has paved the way for their political engagement and the establishment of the Ministry of Gender. Women struggled to play an active role in peace negotiations. They have been successful to some extent and have been able to send some of their own as members of a negotiation team. However, there is a long way to go in order to have women at the official negotiation table.
    [Show full text]
  • Integrating Gender Into the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States
    www.cordaid.org POLICY PAPER SEPTEMBER 2012 INTEGRATING GENDER INTO THE NEW DEAL FOR ENGAGEMENT IN FRAGILE STATES The New Deal offers an important opportunity to key recommendations advance women, peace and security issues. This policy paper has identified entry points for integrating a gender ■■ Prioritise women’s voices and strengthen engagement perspective into the various aspects of the New Deal as with civil society around implementation of the well as its implementation in the pilot countries. The case New Deal studies from Afghanistan and South Sudan demonstrate ■■ Link the implementation of the New Deal to existing that much work has already been done by women’s in-country activities around the implementation of organisations to identify, prioritise and advocate around UNSCR 1325, and vice versa key issues of concern, and there is great interest among ■■ Apply a gender perspective to all analytical frameworks civil society to play a more active role in supporting the and approaches used to implement the New Deal implementation of the New Deal. The paper highlights key ■■ Integrate gender issues into fragility assessments recommendations and possible actions that could be taken ■■ Allocate adequate financing to women’s needs and to integrate a gender perspective as the New Deal piloting gender-related priorities continues in the coming months. ■■ Ensure that any indicators developed to monitor the PSGs reflect a gender perspective and are sex- disaggregated ■■ Increase communication and collaboration across government ministries to ensure a more coordinated approach to addressing gender issues in FCAS “Gender equality, and women’s NO PEACE participation, is critical to the WITHOUT WOMEN’S realisation of the central aims LEADERSHIP of the New Deal.” CARE.
    [Show full text]
  • South Sudan National Action Plan 2015-2020 on Unscr 1325On Women
    REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN SOUTH SUDAN NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2015-2020 ON UNSCR 1325 ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY AND RELATED RESOLUTIONS Abyei Upper Nile Northern Unity Bahr el Ghazal Warrap Western Bahr el Ghazal Jonglei Lakes Western Equatoria Eastern Equatoria Central Equatoria REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN NATIONAL ACTION PLAN 2015-2020 FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325 ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY AND RELATED RESOLUTIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS 4 FOREWORD 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6 1.0 INTRODUCTION 7 1.1 Background to the development of the South Sudan National Action Plan 8 1.2 Background to UNSCR 1325 9 1.3 Why UNSCR 1325? 9 1.4 The relevance of the National Action Plan 10 1.5 Overall goal of the National Action Plan 11 1.6 Objectives of the National Action Plan 11 1.7 Funding and implementation of the National Action Plan 12 1.8 Reporting and accountability mechanisms 12 1.9 Structure of the National Action Plan 14 2.0 SOUTH SUDAN COUNTRY CONTEXT 15 2.1 History of armed conflict in South Sudan 16 2.2 Women’s participation in armed conflict in South Sudan 16 2.3 Violence against women in the interim and post-independence periods 18 2.4 Protection of women in post-independence South Sudan 19 2.5 The prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence 20 2.6 Women’s health and security 21 2.7 Women’s participation in leadership and decision-making 22 2.8 Women in the security sector 23 2.9 Women in the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programme 24 3.0 LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK 26 3.1 International
    [Show full text]
  • Women Account for Over 60% of the Population in South Sudan. This Is Not a Force of Nature but a Direct Result of Over 39 Years of Conflict Since Sudan’S Independence
    Women account for over 60% of the population in South Sudan. This is not a force of nature but a direct result of over 39 years of conflict since Sudan’s Independence. Years of conflict has not only deprived women of their dependents - husbands and sons, but the disturbing and conventional post-war society coupled with discriminatory cultural traditions and abject poverty undermines the promotion of equal rights and the ability for women to actively participate in the development of the new nation. Over 90% of women in South Sudan are illiterate, and 50% of girls under the age of 18 are married which contributes to the high rate of maternal mortality in the country which is still thought to be the highest in the world. While the number of girls enrolled in school has increased over the last few years since the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement in 2005, the percentage of girls at school compared to boys lingers at around 37%. This number severely declines for education (Source: http://www.binsidetv.net/2011/07/u-s-recognizes-south- sudan-president-barack-obama-releases-statement/) past primary school level. Gender based violence is a reality for many women, and abortion is illegal even when a woman has been raped. The Rule of law is largely inexistent and the majority of cases are dealt with using customary law which inevitably discriminate women and the minorities. South Sudan even since independence continues to suffer from inter-ethnic conflicts with many women and children being the victims of these clashes. Despite these challenges women have been accorded equal status in the law, and the transitional constitution approved just prior to independence also guarantees equality between the two sexes.
    [Show full text]
  • Lessons from Burundi, Liberia, and Chad Emily Myers Union College - Schenectady, NY
    Union College Union | Digital Works Honors Theses Student Work 6-2016 War and Women Wielding Power: Lessons from Burundi, Liberia, and Chad Emily Myers Union College - Schenectady, NY Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Myers, Emily, "War and Women Wielding Power: Lessons from Burundi, Liberia, and Chad" (2016). Honors Theses. 191. https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/191 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at Union | Digital Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Union | Digital Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WAR AND WOMEN WIELDING POWER LESSONS FROM BURUNDI, LIBERIA, AND CHAD BY EMILY HUDSON MYERS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR HONORS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE UNION COLLEGE MARCH, 2016 INTRODUCTION Since 1989, the world has seen civil war replace traditional war as the prevailing paradigm of conflict. Simultaneously, the world’s leading thinkers, international bodies, and aid organizations have encouraged the idea that women’s rights are human rights, and urged that policy issues be considered through a gendered lens. My thesis aims to connect these two concurrent shifts in geopolitics by examining the relationship between civil war and women. How do women experience civil war differently from men? How does the legacy of civil war change women’s lives? Specifically, my thesis examines the effects civil war has on women’s political power.
    [Show full text]
  • Resolution 1325 in 2020
    RESOLUTION 1325 IN 2020: RESOLUTION Looking Forward, Looking Back 1325 IN 2020: United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325, which was passed on Looking Forward, Looking Back 31 October 2000 by the UN Security Council, recognises the links between women, peace and security by highlighting the agency of women and mandating governments to ensure their inclusion in all processes affecting their peace and security. Ultimately, the resolution provides an overarching, comprehensive and wide-reaching policy framework for addressing the complexities and gaps surrounding women, conflict, peace and security. While the resolution recognises that women are disproportionately affected by violence during conflict, it also further underscores women’s roles in conflict prevention and ultimately calls for women’s participation at all levels of peace processes including peacekeeping, negotiations and peacebuilding. The 10-year anniversary of UNSCR 1325 spurned varied commemorations globally. Following the African Union’s (AU) declaration of 2010 as the Year of Peace and Security, the 2010 Make Peace Happen Campaign, the declaration by the AU of 2010–2020 as the Decade of the African Women, and the 10th anniversary of UNSCR 1325, the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), in partnership with the AU Peace and Security Council, hosted an international High-level Seminar with the theme, ‘1325 in 2020: looking forward… looking back’. Held in Durban, South Africa on 8 and 9 October 2010, the High-level Seminar drew close to 60 participants from civil society, governments, intergovernmental organisations, scholars and practitioners from different countries, who were united by their quest for women’s involvement in the realm of peace, security and development.
    [Show full text]
  • Challenges to Security, Livelihoods, and Gender Justice in South Sudan
    OXFAM RESEARCH REPORT MARCH 2013 CHALLENGES TO SECURITY, LIVELIHOODS, AND GENDER JUSTICE IN SOUTH SUDAN The situation of Dinka agro-pastoralist communities in Lakes and Warrap States INGRID KIRCHER Senior Researcher, Intermón Oxfam and Oxfam GB In South Sudan, widespread euphoria following independence in July 2011 has given way to disappointment that expected peace dividends have not materialised. Many South Sudanese are experiencing insecurity, a lack of access to basic services, and increasing inequalities. Pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities in remote border areas are particularly affected by insecurity and by a lack of social services, and women are particularly marginalised. This report is the result of Oxfam research to enable the needs and views of conflict-affected communities, in relation to security and livelihoods, to be voiced, heard, and addressed. It focuses on the security concerns expressed by the communities themselves: conflict within and between communities, cattle raiding, and violence against women. Oxfam Research Reports are written to share research results, to contribute to public debate and to invite feedback on development and humanitarian policy and practice. They do not necessarily reflect Oxfam policy positions. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Oxfam. www.oxfam.org CONTENTS Executive summary ......................................................................... 3 1 Introduction ..................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Guidelines for Women and Girls Friendly Spaces in South Sudan
    Promong Posi&ve Environments for Women and Girls Guidelines for Women and Girls Friendly Spaces in South Sudan © UNICEF HealthtNetTPO & UNICEF South Sudan (2016), Promo%ng Posi%ve Environments for Women and Girls: Guidelines for Women and Girls Friendly Spaces in South Sudan Cover Photo : UNICEF South Sudan/2016/Silvia Finaurini Graphic Layout : Pugacioff ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The content of this publicaNon was developed by HealthnetTPO (HNTPO). The team leading its development includes: Rebecca Horn, Orso Muneghina, Boniface Duku, Sabine Houwen The development of this publicaNon was managed by Masumi Yamashina, Chris&ne Heckman and Jennifer Melton (UNICEF) Through consultaNon and peer-review this publicaNon has received valuable inputs from the following organizaNons: InternaNonal Medical Corps (IMC); UNFPA; ProtecNon Cluster; GBV sub- cluster; Confident Children out of Conflict (CCC); InternaNonal Rescue Commi[ee (IRC); Nile Hope; Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare; South Sudan Widows & Orphans Charitable OrgansaNon (WOCO); Hope RestoraNon South Sudan (HRSS); Smile Again Africa Development For communicaNon and to provide feedback on this publicaNon, OrganisaNon (SAADO); Samahi. please email [email protected] or [email protected] PromoNng PosiNve Environments for Women and Girls ^2 PromoNng PosiNve Environments for Women and Girls ^3 UNICEF/ SouthSudan/2016/Silvia Finaurini Foreward List of abbrevia&ons Though Women and Girls Friendly Spaces (WGFS) are now considered a central component to gender-based violence preven%on and response CFS = Child Friendly Spaces programming in South Sudan, this has only been the case since the 2013 GBV = Gender Based Violence crisis. A number of organisa%ons currently implement WGFS – oQen under the name of “women’s centres” or “women’s safe spaces” – but, to date, IASC = Inter Agency Standing Commi[ee there has been no commonly agreed understanding of what a WGFS is, what the key aims and purpose are, or what acvi%es should be IDP = Internally Displaced People conducted.
    [Show full text]
  • Gender and Statebuilding in South Sudan
    UNIteD StAteS INStItUte of Peace www.usip.org SPeCIAL RePoRt 2301 Constitution Ave., NW • Washington, DC 20037 • 202.457.1700 • fax 202.429.6063 ABOUT THE REPO R T Nada Mustafa Ali Part of a series of U.S. Institute of Peace reports on state building in South Sudan, this report asserts that equality between women and men and among women—as well as women’s security, economic empowerment, and meaningful participation—should be central benchmarks to state building in South Sudan, not Gender and only as a matter of principle, but also as a means to overturn years of conflict and marginalization. Gender equality is essential to building a strong and equitable economy and to ensuring a functional state that maximizes the full potential of all South Statebuilding in Sudanese. The report is based on field research in Juba in February 2011 as well as previous and follow-up research by the author. It examines the risks and opportunities associated with South Sudan gender and state building in South Sudan, analyzes priorities that South Sudanese women interviewees identified, and recommends ways to make the new state responsive to and reflective of the needs of all South Sudanese women and men. Summary • South Sudan’s independence ends decades of conflict as well as socioeconomic and politi- ABOUT THE AUTHO R cal marginalization at the hands of successive governments in Khartoum, which affected Nada Mustafa Ali is a part-time faculty member in global studies women in gender-specific ways. Independence thus opens up opportunities for women’s at the New School University in New York and a consultant economic and social empowerment, ensuring that the new country’s political and economic and activist.
    [Show full text]