UN Women South Sudan 2019-2022

Guided by the Strategic Note 2019-2022, UN Women has supported the Government of South Sudan to implement norms, policies and standards to set the foundation for gender inclusive peace building, post-conflict reconstruction and transitional justice. In addition, UN Women has assisted women leaders at national and grassroots levels to lobby, advocate, monitor, and participate in the implementation of the Peace Agreement through UN Womens key thematic programs on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), Humanitarian Actions, Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE), Women's Political Participation (WPP) and Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW). With the support from UN Women, the Government of South Sudan has fulfilled the reporting obligations for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) and UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 1325, requirements for the member states to implement its provisions and periodically report on progress to the United Nations (UN). The reporting urged the government to comply with the provisions of the convention, protection of the rights of women, addressing the challenges of women and way forward. Furthermore, the Government of South Sudan has defended at the CEDAW Treaty body 80th session on the first report on CEDAW which was historic as it was the first such dialogue before any human rights treaty body. The Government of South Sudan has finalized ratification of the African Unions Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol). This was ratified in June 2023 after a long deadlock since Parliament passed it in 2017. (Outcome 6.1) The overall implementation of the WPS commitments stipulated in Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) as well as National Action Plan (NAP) 2015-2020 on UNCSR 1325 (WPS) has been slow due to the political crisis and economic constraints in the country. However, the general security situation among communities has been improved as women reporting an increased sense of safety and security as they carry out their daily activities and there has been progress on womens representation achieved so far as approximately 30% (602 out of 2,004 positions) which is an increase of 4 % from 26% (197 out of 752) in February 2019 at national and state executive positions. At state level, over 260 women leaders across the country from the 10 states and 3 administrative areas have been engaged in establishing the structures of 13 South Sudan Women Leaders Forums (SSWLFs) to act as government women leaders structures for influencing government decisions and space for amplifying women leaders voices for claiming meaningful participation in public life. Through the women CSOs and networks, at community level, more than 1,000 households in 10 states have been engaged in the inclusion of women in leadership and peace processes. More women and girls are now able to contribute and have greater influence in building sustainable peace in the communities as more women are represented in the local governance structures such as village chief and youth leaders. (Outcome 4.1) More gendered analyses and sex and age disaggregated data (SADD) are now available for humanitarian actors in South Sudan. This has created an enabling environment for humanitarian actors to highlight and address specific needs of women, girls, boys, and men. UN Womens work in enhancing the Humanitarian Country Teams (HCT) capacities in gender analysis and collecting SADD has provided a basis for gender mainstreaming in plans and programs. (Outcome 4.2) The lives and livelihoods of 16,360 rural women has been improved through their enhanced skills related to saving and lending, functional literacy, and financial and business management. 317 Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) have been established, and these platforms improve access to credit and loans for over 5,780 individuals, including 4,374 rural women (86.2%) and 703 men (13.8%). Moreover, a total of 3,002 rural women have also improved their livelihoods through access to vocational skills building, such as tailoring, embroidery, soap production, beekeeping, mechanics and climate smart agriculture. Savings from the VSLAs and vocational skills building have enabled rural women to diversify their livelihoods as most of them investing immensely in agriculture, hairdressing, grocery shops and other value chains. (Outcome 4.3) Moreover, women and girls have increased their access to protection and justice. Evidence is emerging that perceptions and attitudes towards gender-based violence (GBV) are changing, with more men in the targeted communities willing to promote and protect women's rights and eliminating negative traditional practices and GBV in their communities. (Outcome 4.3) Coordination and accountability of the UN system for commitments to Gender Equality and Womens Empowerment (GEWE) has been enhanced and UN Women has leveraged its comparative advantage as a key lead on GEWE in South Sudan. According to the findings of consultations with different actors, UN Women Country Office is now perceived as the main coordinator and convener of GEWE stakeholders in South Sudan, and has provided invaluable technical support to implement normative frameworks, including on CEDAW, the National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 and Beijing25; to positively influence the work of the government. Further, the Country Office is perceived as a leader on gender data and statistics and no one else is addressing this gap.

Outcome 6.1: Government of South Sudan fulfils international reporting obligations on the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), UNSCR 1325, Maputo Plan of Action and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Outcome 4.1: Government of South Sudan budgets for and fully implements its Women Peace and Security commitments. Outcome 4.2: Humanitarian actors promote gender-responsive humanitarian/crisis response planning frameworks and programmes in South Sudan. Outcome 4.3: Women and girls affected by the conflict access protection and economic opportunities.