Protracted conflict and other emergencies such as famine and floods have continued to weaken the socio-economic foundation of South Sudan for years. These continued man-made and natural disasters have affected the populations to a point of no return, with women and children mostly affected, and the Government of South Sudan unable to provide basic protection services. As per a UN-OCHA Report, the population in need of gender-based violence (GBV) interventions had increased by 25% as of 2022 compared to 2021. Unfortunately, females aged 15-25 have experienced some forms of GBV, and shockingly cases are under-reported by survivors’ due to fear of stigma, re-victimization and reliance on traditional justice structures. The most pervasive risks that women and girls face, regardless of displacement status and contributing factors, is the prevalence of violence, rape culture, and perceptions of inferiority of women and girls. In a recent study, a staggering 82% of respondents said that while they would report an incident of GBV but only 15% could specifically identify to whom or where they would report and hence only 20% of at-risk women and girls have access to services related to GBV prevention and response.

To address violence against women and girls, Nile Hope continue to operate ‘One-Stop Centres’ and ‘Safe Houses’ to prevent and respond to GBV and harmful practices including child marriage. Through collaboration with our developmental partners, our GBV interventions are centred around providing psycho-social support, GBV case management services, establishing and strengthening GBV referral pathways, providing legal services, livelihood and economic support as well as providing capacity building training to frontline service/duty providers.