South Sudan adopted its first National Action Plan (NAP) in 2015 for the period 2015-2020. The NAP was developed by the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare (MGCSW) through a participatory process that included broad consultations with various peace and security stakeholders and supported by UN Women. Additionally, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) acted as the co-chair of the development process, collecting and harmonizing views from government institutions, development partners, United Nations agencies, civil society organisations, women’s groups and religious and traditional leaders. The overall goal of the NAP is to strengthen the participation of women in peace and security efforts and facilitate the creation of an enabling environment for their leadership and political participation in conflict resolution and allow for more inclusive, just and sustainable peace, recovery and reconstruction processes, where a gender perspective is integrated into the design and implementation of all policies related to peace and security. The NAP has an implementation matrix that breaks down objectives to corresponding actions, outcomes, indicators, key actors, and a time frame. Nevertheless, the NAP does not have an allocated budget, instead tasking implementing actors to develop a financing plan.
South Sudan reported on the implementation of its NAP, as well as WPS commitments, in its national reporting for Beijing+25 and in preparation for CSW64 (2020). Specifically, the country reported that the Gender Machinery in South Sudan is monitoring the implementation of the NAP as well as the Standing Operating Procedures (SOPs) on gender-based violence (GBV) among other human rights violations. South Sudan additionally reported on women’s participation in peace in the country. In the build-up to the renewed peace efforts, 43 South Sudanese women organizations and other NGOs working on women empowerment and peace signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on October 21, 2018 to collaborate and work together. In the renewed 2018 peace effort, one of the mediators was a woman and female leaders of civil society groups served as official observers. Women made up 25 percent of official delegates, and members of the Women’s Coalition (p. 82).
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. The most recent armed conflict in the country’s history was the civil war, which lasted from 2013 until 2018 and resulted in thousands of casualties and displaced people. The war had a disproportionate impact on women, with sexual violence used as a weapon of war. Women made concerted efforts to be included in the peace process and had relative success in their efforts. Women comprised 15% of delegates leading the negotiations for the 2015 peace agreement while women comprised 25% of delegates during the 2018 negotiations. While all signatories representing conflict parties in the 2018 peace agreement were men, women constituted seven out of 17 (41%) of civil society signatories.