Independence not Providing Dividends for Women in South Sudan

This briefing by the Institute for Security Studies examines the marginalization of women in South Sudan's state-building and development processes following independence on 9 July 2011. It argues that despite their contributions to the liberation struggle and the existence of legal frameworks for gender equality, women remain underrepresented in political leadership and suffer from severe socio-economic hardships and gender-based violence.

• Despite South Sudan's independence and the active role women played in the liberation struggle, they are largely excluded from official peace negotiations and development policy discourse, which prioritizes basic infrastructural development over social relationships.
• South Sudan has adopted several international and regional frameworks to protect women's rights, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Maputo Protocol, and the African Union’s Post-Conflict, Reconstruction and Development strategy.
• Women in South Sudan face extreme poverty and health crises; a June 2012 National Baseline Household Survey found that over half of the 8.2 million people live on less than a dollar a day, with women making up the majority of the poor. Additionally, maternal mortality is four times higher than in other parts of Africa, with over 2,000 women dying from preventable causes per 100,000 births as of June 2012.
• There is a significant gap between formal legal protections and reality. While the Transitional Constitution mandates a 25% benchmark for women's representation in the public sector, actual appointments are low: only nine of 90 ambassadors appointed in March 2012 were women, and only five of 29 ministers in the cabinet were women.
• Women continue to suffer from widespread sexual and gender-based violence, and traditional practices—such as forced early marriages of girls as young as nine to settle blood feuds—persist despite the Transitional Constitution.

APA

Joala, R., & Oder, S. (n.d.). Independence not Providing Dividends for Women in South Sudan. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/independence-not-providing-dividends-for-women-in-south-sudan

Chicago

Joala, Refiloe, and Sandra Oder. Independence not Providing Dividends for Women in South Sudan. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/independence-not-providing-dividends-for-women-in-south-sudan.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Joala |first1=Refiloe |last2=Oder |first2=Sandra |title=Independence not Providing Dividends for Women in South Sudan |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/independence-not-providing-dividends-for-women-in-south-sudan |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{joalandindependence, author = {Joala, Refiloe and Oder, Sandra}, title = {{Independence not Providing Dividends for Women in South Sudan}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/independence-not-providing-dividends-for-women-in-south-sudan}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }