Outcome SSD_O_2

Advancing partnerships and resourcing

In 2024, UN Women South Sudan significantly enhanced its advocacy and visibility efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. Key achievements included high-profile events such as the launch of the South Sudan Women's Charter and the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) Strategic Plan 2023-2027 , alongside impactful campaigns like the 16 Days of Activism. Media engagement efforts resulted in over 43 mentions in leading newspapers, significant social media engagement, and free radio features highlighting gender equality and women’s leadership. A notable accomplishment was the capacity strengthening of 24 media outlets through targeted engagement, fostering gender-sensitive reporting and amplifying key messages on gender equality. Advocacy content, including 13 stories and a GBV video, was published on regional platforms, further expanding the reach of UN Women’s initiatives. UN Women, in partnership with the Ministry of Peace Building, the Government of Norway, and the Women Peace and Security Working Group, organized a photo exhibition featuring 100 images. Running from 2010 to 2024, the exhibition highlighted the need for a gender-inclusive transition, challenges negative perceptions of women leaders, and documents strategies for a peaceful, inclusive future. These efforts reinforced partnerships, enhanced the visibility of women’s voices, and drove sustainable advocacy for gender equality and women’s leadership in South Sudan. Furthermore, UN Women South Sudan continued to effectively leverage and expand its partnerships to secure sustainable resourcing for gender equality and the delivery of its mandate. The Country Office submitted six funding proposals totalling USD 8.25 million to a range of donors, such us the Korean Embassy, Japan Supplementary Funding, the Peacebuilding Fund, and the African Development Bank and including non-traditional partners such as the Complex Risk Analytics Fund (CRAF). As a result of these efforts, the Country Office successfully secured funding of USD 2.75 million. One proposal valued at USD 3 million was unsuccessful, while feedback is still pending on three proposals totalling USD 2.5 million.

Advancing partnerships and resourcing

In 2025, UN Women South Sudan (SSDN CO) continued to advance its mandate across economic empowerment, peacebuilding, political participation, and youth and gender engagement. The office received funding from the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) and the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), which supported initiatives in food security, climate security, political empowerment, and peace and security. Core resources contributed to coordination and common services, ensuring compliance with UN Women’s cost recovery policies, while additional core funds were allocated to specific activities. The SSDN Country Office’s Strategic Notes continued to receive support from the Government of Norway, covering the period March 2023 to June 2026, including a three-month no-cost extension. The SSDN CO strengthened its partnerships with International Financial Institutions, Stanbic, and MTN to advance economic empowerment and Women, Peace, and Security initiatives. Efforts continued to engage additional private sector and non-traditional partners to enhance in-kind support for UN Women’s work. Through collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, the office supported South Sudan Women’s Unions across ten states and two administrative areas—the country’s largest membership body of women’s organizations. This engagement provided a catalytic platform for advocacy, amplifying women’s voices in the constitution-making process, elections, peacebuilding, and mediation in ongoing conflicts and political stalemates. As convening agent, the SSDN CO led two Peacebuilding Fund projects focused on women’s political participation and security sector reform, and participated in two consortium projects on climate security, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and permanent constitution-making, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In support of women’s economic empowerment, the South Sudan Women’s Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Project (SSWSEEP) reached 618 local markets and private sector actors, prioritizing women vendors and entrepreneurs in the informal economy through targeted training and business support grants. The Country Office applied an integrated and intergenerational approach to youth engagement, ensuring that young people are meaningfully involved across all projects. Gender-responsive interventions and youth-focused results were mainstreamed in strategic notes and annual work plans, in line with Leave No One Behind commitments and Youth 2030 targets. UN Women’s visibility continued to grow, with strong engagement on Facebook and a total of 28 media mentions, reflecting increasing public recognition of the office’s work. Finally, the SSDN CO maintained a leading role within technical and coordination networks, co-chairing the GTG SSDN chapter with UNDP, leading the Women, Peace, and Security Working Group, co-leading the RG4 Resource Group with UNFPA, and co-chairing RG1 with UNDP and the Peacebuilding Monitoring Team (PMT).

Advancing partnerships and resourcing

The CO continued to engage with various funding partners for resources for the SN such as Peacebuilding Fund, Norway, Canada and African Development Bank, Japan. The funding gap was reduced significately after the CO was awarded the Norway funding of NOK 40 million to the SN.