Women in South Sudan are subject to limited access to political, economic, social resources due to the country’s rigid patriarchal structure. Nevertheless, women have been negotiating their agency and influence for decades, playing a crucial role in state-building, peacebuilding, and development processes. Beyond their formal role as agents of peace, considering the informal dimensions through which South Sudanese women influence peace and conflict are vastly significant for aid actors to grasp conflict dynamics and the…
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CSRF Research Repository
The CSRF Research Repository aims to support greater contextual knowledge for policy makers, programme managers, and implementers by providing a searchable repository of research, analysis, and resources, and providing periodic updates on new research and analysis.
This report aims at shedding a light on needs and perspective of local women in South Sudan in Bor and Malakal, as well as offering recommendations for aid actors. The report argues that despite the existence of several laws protecting their safety, women still feel insecure. This is partly due to the lack of enforcement of said laws, the entrenched cultural norms, and the struggle of women to claim their rights. Read more here
Focusing on the governor of Western Bar El Ghazel state, Sarah Cleto, this Situation Update discusses successes and challenges of her administration. Despite her grassroots popularity, members of the opposition are calling for her removal. Attempts to replace Cleto, however, have been stalled by internal power struggles—highlighting the complexities of Western Bahr el Ghazal’s ethnic politics. Read here
This article in the Horn of Africa Bulletin conducts a thorough analysis of the persistent exclusion of women from decision-making processes in peacebuilding initiatives across the Horn of Africa, employing South Sudan as a case study. The article takes a deep dive into outlining the importance of women’s inclusion in peace processes, not just as a matter of justice and rights, but also for achieving more comprehensive and lasting peace outcomes. Read more here
Focusing on gender in South Sudan, this meta-analysis provides an overview of the literature available on gender dynamics with a special attention on women. It looks at their role in politics and peacebuilding, conflict related sexual violence (CRSV) and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and explores the changing roles of women in times of conflict. The analysis concludes with a brief assessment of gendered access to education and its evolution over time.
This article explores the everyday politics of protecting women from war and atrocities, based on ethnographic work within the United Nations Protection of Civilians sites, South Sudan. It examines the heterogenous ways that peacekeepers and displaced people conceptualised and enacted women’s rights and protection inside the sites. Protection and gender were variously interpreted, resisted, and transformed. But sexual and gender-based violence remained rife in these makeshift ‘safe havens’. These experiences demonstrate that international peacebuilders cannot…
Examples from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, the DRC, Nigeria, South Sudan and Sudan Key findings • Food-related livelihood activities such as tending fields, foraging for food or fetching water make women and girls vulnerable to conflict-related sexual violence attacks in conflicts where conflict parties use such violence. • The scarcity of food during conflict forces women and girls to travel further from their villages in search of food or water, increasing the likelihood of their…
Ma’ Mara Sakit Village, in partnership with the Feminist Humanitarian Network, did research in seven states in South Sudan to understand how women and girls in the informal economy mobilize, organize, and form support networks, the impact of COVID-19 on these groups, and initiate discussions on women’s important role in the informal economy across South Sudan. This research is part of Ma’ Mara Sakit Village’s more extensive South Sudanese feminist community building, the “Mojtama al…
South Sudan has experienced cycles of conflict since before its independence in 2011. Since the start of the civil war, the country has faced displacement, violence, and high rates of sexual and gender-based violence. Despite the 2018 peace deal, South Sudan continues to face intermittent violence, political instability, climate shocks, and floods. The humanitarian situation is critical, with millions of people in need. This Rapid Gender Analysis on Power and Participation is part of the…
This paper examines the current state of women’s participation in organized politics through the lens of young women’s political experiences. It contextualizes women’s participation in party politics in its history and shares findings from conversations with young women about their experiences and challenges in their political work. It finds that young women in politics are doubly marginalized by gender and age. Key recommendations: Collect and publicly avail data on the participation of female youth in…
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