“The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in South Sudan could not be timelier” – South Sudan begins the development of its second National Action Plan on the United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security – African Business

Under the guidance of the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, and with support by UN Women, the Government of South Sudan is developing its second National Action Plan (NAP) on the UN Security Council Resolution1325 on Women, Peace and Security for 2023-2027. As the National Action Plan captures timely issues across the society with its four pillars of prevention, participation, protection, and relief and recovery, the new “SSNAP” represents a country-wide interest and effort. The national and state level consultations are ongoing. The new Plan will be launched during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence later in 2022. 

“If there is no peace, women are the ones suffering,” said Hon. Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro, Minister of Public Service of South Sudan at the national-level consultation for South Sudan’s second National Action Plan (SSNAP) on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) on August 31st, 2022 in Juba, South Sudan. Organized by the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare with UN Women’s support, the consultation gathered government representatives, civil society actors, security sector officials, and development partner representatives at the national level to discuss how the SSNAP can protect women and girls in situations of armed conflicts, safeguard their human rights, prevent violence, and ensure women’s equal participation in peace negotiations and reconstruction efforts in South Sudan.

The new SSNAP is built on the progress made and lessons learned from South Sudan’s first-generation National Action Plan on WPS 2015-2020. The first SSNAP was implemented with solid progress. One of the main achievements was women’s participation as negotiators and observers in South Sudan’s peace negotiations which led to the signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) in 2018. South Sudanese women made up 25 percent of the official delegates and members of the Women’s Coalition.

“Women’s participation in the peace negotiations came with a significant achievement: the affirmative action quota, which ensures women’s political participation and representation at all levels of society, was increased from 25 percent to 35 percent. For the first time, South Sudanese women also gained a signatory status to the peace agreement and achieved a key role in the implementation mechanisms”, highlighted Rukaya Mohammed, Acting Deputy Country Representative, UN Women South Sudan.

The new SSNAP will take into account the lessons learned from the previous-generation SSNAP. The four pillars and some of the strategic goals will be carried over to the new SSNAP, while adequate financial resources for the implementation as well as strengthening the national institution’s ownership and capacity to implement the SSNAP will be addressed. One of the main goals is also to localize the new National Action Plan in South Sudan’s States. The progress report for the first-generation SSNAP was published in December 2021 and highlights many of the lessons learned.

Diverse stakeholders are consulted to ensure the new SSNAP takes into account the current context, needs and priorities of South Sudanese females and girls as well as the wider society. Both at the local and national levels, the process involves the Government, civil society actors as well as youth, people with disabilities, partners in development, and media.

“The WPS agenda in South Sudan could not be timelier and more relevant given the continued transitional period for the Revitalized Peace Agreement, and its overall aim in bringing sustainable peace, security, and reconciliation for the benefit of South Sudanese women, girls, boys, and men. The roadmap for the transitional period along with its benchmarks, such as the unification of armed forces, permanent constitution, and democratic elections, all necessitate women’s full and equal participation alongside men”, said Ms. Mohammed.

The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 – Women, Peace and Security was unanimously approved by the UN Security Council in Oct 2000. It emphasizes the importance of equal participation of women in all efforts to promote and maintain peace and security. It is accompanied with nine other resolutions since then, a framework that includes ten resolutions. These resolutions are a testimony of the importance of women in conflict-mediators and peacemakers. National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security are a way to bring the global normative frameworks into a country context and take concrete action.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Women – Africa.