JICA contributes to the economic empowerment of South Sudanese women

Background:

In South Sudan, protracted civil war, stagnated macroeconomic crisis and social and traditional norms have structurally disadvantaged women in accessing resources, livelihoods, employment, health care, justice, education among others. For instance, disputes on marriage, property, and inheritance are often judged according to customary laws that tend to undermine the rights of women and girls.

Gender Based Violence (GBV) is one of the most critical threats to the well-being of women as more than 60% of girls and women are estimated to experience it during their lifetime. Women and children are targeted for all kinds of violence including sexual assaults and abduction during cattle raiding, other armed conflicts, and everyday lives. The majority of women are engaged in informal employment or unpaid work, in which their safety and security are heavily compromised, and therefore often exposed to the risks of violence.

Women's political and economic participation in the country is relatively strong. Women account for 32.4% of the National Assembly members in the current Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU). Nonetheless, their decision-making power needs to be improved further to better reflect the diverse voices. To join our hands with the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare and other partners in the country to advocate for women's rights and empowerment, JICA has also been actively involved in supporting national and sub-national events like the International Women's Day, 16 days of activism against GBV.

Data Collection Survey:

JICA conducted five gender related surveys; 1) Gender Profile Survey (2016), 2) Data Collection Survey on Gender (2017), 3) Survey on Women's Economic Activities in South Sudan (2018), 4)Data Collection Survey on Measures against GBV in Conflict Affected Countries in Africa (2019), and 5) Research Analysis and Pilot Activities on the Social, Economic and Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 on Women in Juba.

During the survey on the impact of COVID-19 on women in Juba, JICA learned that a lot of women were the breadwinners in their homes, and the pandemic led to an increase in GBV such as domestic violence due to lack of basic needs as women could no longer get capital to keep operating their small scale businesses. JICA through the pilot activities under this survey offered trainings on record keeping, financial management, customer care, and some technical support to small-scale businesses of Lulu (shea butter) processing, liquid soap making, peanut butter production and sales and tailoring vocational center. These were group owned businesses which were at the verge of collapse before JICA intervention.

Project Overview and Expected Achievements: Economic Empowerment and Social Reintegration of Women including GBV Survivors

Following consultations with and request from the Government of South Sudan, JICA dispatched Advisor to promote economic empowerment and social reintegration of GBV survivors to the National and Central Equatoria State Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare in 2021. The Advisor has interacted with several stakeholders and came up with four goals to achieve as below;

The project has identified non-governmental organizations who have integrated economic empowerment and psychosocial support activities for GBV survivors in Juba. In partnership with these organizations, a combination of economic empowerment and psychosocial support will be conducted, on pilot bases, to further identify effective ways to empower GBV survivors economically and socially. Based on the summary of findings, knowledge, good practices, and lessons learnt, as well as recommendations for the line ministries and other service providers, guidance note will be developed. The project has successfully identified and established contacts with the organizations through the stakeholders mapping and expects further interactions with them to maximize the synergies.

Way Forward.

Based on the partnerships with the line ministries and other stakeholders and findings from the past and on-going activities, JICA continues to be committed to strengthen the agency of the women, so that women including GBV Survivors are economically empowered and re/integrated to the society. Women are the backbone of the economy and play essential roles in peace building and development of South Sudan.