1. Protection:

a. Legal Aid/access to  justice services

In South Sudan, women and girls’ often face greater barriers in accessing justice, including but not limited to a lack of locally available police or formal courts; low awareness of laws and rights, the high cost of legal representation, long periods of trials, corruption, lack of trust in the legal system, delays in gathering evidence by police or health providers or poor documentation of evidence, gaps in the legal framework, impunity for perpetrators, and lack of sensitivity or active bias from justice actors etc. Reporting incidence of sexual violence for instance also carries stigma that includes fear of retribution by the perpetrator and/or his family, fear of being ostracized by one’s own family, or fear of being blamed for the attack. The lack of a functional formal judicial system and rule of law coupled with lack of specific law to protect women and girls are linked to delays in enactment of anti-GBV and Family Law Bills, lack of domestication and implementation of Maputo Protocol and other regional instruments that South Sudan has ratified. This often means that the likelihood of the legal redress in favor of the survivor/victim is extremely low. In addition, when women and girls do not find suitable avenues to address their issues including lack of mechanisms to protect witnesses and long periods of trials, they shy away from reporting.

GVO address the critical gaps in the provision of legal assistance to women and girls by offering specialized legal assistance through information, counselling services, emergency support and legal representation where women and girls will be able to know and claim their legal rights thereby increasing access to justice for survivors/victims. Legal representations will further respond & prevent GBV and as well create legal precedents that can generate positive structural and policy changes.

b. Sexual & Gender Based Violence

Across South Sudan, SGBV namely rape, early and forced marriages, teenage pregnancies, domestic violence, gender discrimination and harmful cultural practices etc are pervasive in South Sudan. The full magnitude of the problem is unclear. However, in December 2019, UNICEF reported that 65% of women and girls in South Sudan have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime and some 51% have suffered intimate partner violence. In 2023, a study conducted by UNFPA and the Sudd Institute indicated that the prevalence of sexual and physical violence among married women aged 15-49 is rising at 49.6%, while substantial proportions of women aged 15-64 in South Sudan experience GBV either in the form of physical (34.0%) or sexual (13.5%) violence in their life time. The Government budget allocations on basic care and protection remains vastly inadequate including delayed salaries of frontline workers. The declining humanitarian funding further continues to limit service coverage to meet humanitarian needs.

GVO therefore works to strengthen GBV prevention through the communities’ care; risk mitigation interventions and GBV response services aimed at protecting women and girls from violence, exploitation, abuse and harmful practices by enhancing their protective environment and gender-responsive social welfare.

c. Child Protection & Juvenile Justice

i). Child Protection;

In South Sudan, the problems of unaccompanied and separated children, grave child rights violations, mental health psychosocial support and GBV are pervasive, widespread and persistent and pervasive. According to 2025 HRPN, an estimated 4.9 million children across South Sudan require urgent protection due to the compounded effects of armed violence, flooding, economic instability, and displacement (2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan). Additionally, as of April 28, 2025, a total of 9,752 Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC) cases were documented through CPIMS+, comprising 5,107 boys and 4,645 girls. Of these, 3,723 cases (2,086 boys and 1,637 girls) remain open and need Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) services across the country. The problems are further heightened by the proliferation of small arms, cultural practices, and the weak rule of law system that necessitates mobilization of children and adolescents as part of community defence groups. Children, youth and adolescents are the most affected by family separation, recruitment by armed groups, sexual and physical violence, child marriage, and exploitation, mental health issues, poverty etc exacerbated by ongoing conflict, economic hardship, and repeated climate shocks. Large-scale displacement has further left many children separated from their families in psychological distress, and vulnerable to further grave violence, abuse, and exploitation.

GVO therefore implements child protection concerns through child protection case management and capacity building of local protection systems to identify and respond to children at risk; strengthening community-based structures to contribute towards monitoring and documentation of child rights violations mental health and psychosocial programming and strengthening linkages with case management and broader protection services.

ii). Juvenile justice;

Secondly, South Sudan lacks a juvenile justice system that takes into consideration the special needs of children in conflict with the law, regardless of whether they are guilty as charged or not (UNICEF May 2020, press release). Juveniles including boys and girls in South Sudan face significant legal challenges often resulting into prolonged detention, prioritization of punishment over rehabilitation and ultimately violation of children’s rights. Without proper legal assistance, children in conflict with the law find it difficult to navigate the complexities of the juvenile justice in South Sudan. The lack of a functional judicial system for children, lack of restorative justice system, limited capacity of law enforcers on child-friendly justice approaches, children resorting to crime as a means of survival, belonging and protection etc are linked to the lack of implementation of the bill of rights under the Transitional Constitution, Child Act, 2008 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child where juveniles continue to be treated as adults which is a violation of children’s rights.

GVO works to address the critical gaps in the provision of legal assistance to juveniles, conduct mobile courts across the country to provide legal assistance, support through direct legal representation and support alternatives to jail programming such as family conferencing and victim-offender mediation thereby ensuring access to justice for children.

d.Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV)

Across South Sudan, conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in the form of rape, gang rape and/or attempted gang rape, forced nudity, threats of sexual violence to sexual slavery, sexualized torture and forced marriage etc remains prevalent. It is perpetrated by

both conventional parties to the conflict and armed groups/elements, including community-based militia. CRSV is largely perpetrated against thousands of women, men and children, and gravely affects their physical, psychological, and socioeconomic well- being. People with intersectional vulnerabilities, including IDPs and people with disabilities are also among the targeted victims. In 2023, The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) documented 124 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence affecting 292 survivors (221 women, 71 girls). A further seven incidents, which occurred between 2019 and 2021, affecting 4 women, 2 girls and one boy, were also verified in 2022. However, it is widely acknowledged that CRSV incidents remain under-reported due to due to fear of stigma and reprisal, lack of trust in rule of law institutions, access issues and lack of awareness. CRSV survivors in South Sudan lack access to medical, psychosocial, and economic support that would help them rehabilitate.

GVO works to empower the CRSV survivors through coordination and referral for essential medical services; psycho-social support and legal aid; economic empowerment to empower the survivors and reduce their risks of vulnerability and discrimination; engagement with community leaders and duty bearers to support survivors to reintegrate in communities; and conduct community awareness raising.

e. Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR)

The Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) situation in South Sudan remains terrible because of high maternal deaths, few contraceptive choices, and widespread opposition to family planning. The combination of SGBV and adolescent girl barriers to access SRHR services creates a double burden of disadvantage. A 2022 UN report on South Sudan indicated that over 60 per cent of unintended pregnancies end largely in abortion, with an estimated 45 per cent of all abortions being unsafe. Abortion is a criminal offense in South Sudan unless done for saving the life of a mother. The South Sudan Reproductive Health Policy of 2019–2029 and the Reproductive Health Strategic Plan of 2019–2023 aims to improve sexual and reproductive health (SRH) by identifying contraception and post-abortion care as key to reducing maternal mortality. However, these policies have not been implemented due to conflict, political strife, cultural norms that view abortion as a taboo and unacceptable, lack of information on safe abortion, poverty and lack of funding.

GVO works to improve knowledge on risks to unsafe abortion and post abortion care, improve knowledge on community attitudes which stigmatise women seeking SRHR services, aimed at changing negative social practices.