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WOMEN AS AGENTS OF PEACE (WAPSS)
CUEIBET COUNTY, LAKES STATE, REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN
2016-2018
about
AVSI implemented the project “Women as Agents of Peace in South Sudan (WAPSS)” with local partners such as the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek (DoR) and Women Welfare Agency (WWA), a local women’s rights organization.
Challenges
Cueibet County in Lakes State, South Sudan, accounts for a highly disproportionate share of recorded conflict incidents within the country. Almost all conflict incidents in Cueibet are intercommunal, related to cattle and revenge raids between various Dinka Gok clans and sub-clans predominating, in addition to occasional cross-border attacks between the Dinka Gok and other groups. The Dinkas are mainly agro-pastoral people, relying on cattle herding at riverside camps in the dry season and growing a variety of grains in fixed settlements during the rainy season.
Cattle raids and revenge killings have developed into a cycle of violence driven by intense resource competition among the county’s overwhelmingly pastoralist communities, an entrenched local honor code, a multi-generational time-horizon for revenge attacks, the widespread diffusion of small arms over the previous 20 years, and an inability of national, state, and local government to enforce the rule of law – including frequent government complicity in local conflict.
While cattle raiding is the most economically disruptive form of violence in the area and a primary source of revenge-claims, incidents of Sex and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) are not only detrimental to individual victims and families, but by eliminating the potential marital value of a female, subvert the dowry system. This dowry system, in which cattle are given from the extended family of the groom to that of the bride, is by far the largest non-violent source of cattle exchange.
response
The goal of this two-year project is to contribute to inclusive, just, and sustainable peace in Cueibet County, Lakes State by working with credible local actors, such as the local Catholic diocese, and leveraging traditional forms of non-violent conflict resolution, such as community-based mediation. AVSI seeks not to establish new means of peacebuilding, but rather to support and facilitate those that already exist. In doing so, AVSI is working to increase protection for women and girls from SGBV and the promotion of female leadership and participation in peacebuilding at all levels of Cueibet County, with a strong focus on local peace institutions at the lowest administrative levels.
beneficiaries
Direct beneficiaries of the project:
- 2, 347 men
- 2,477 women
- 700 youth
- 3,600 children
- 18 local authorities
results
AVSI is confident that the peacebuilding processes strengthened through this project will continue to move in a positive direction due to the high degree of local commitment.
More specifically, the inclusion of women in the local Peace Committees has increased women’s voice and participation in the peace process and other crucial community decisions. Teachers, PTAs, and local authorities have been trained on the negative effects of GBV on individuals and the community and are now well versed on GBV services. The Referral Pathway for GBV that was developed by AVSI in partnership with UNMISS-HRD and the local authorities will be a more permanent linkage for reporting GBV cases in Cueibet.
Below is a summary of program performance on selected indicators and other main project outcomes:
- 86% of reported cases of GBV referred to appropriate public services for medical treatment and legal redress
- 4,427 men and women sensitized on GBV, referral pathways and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing
- 47 local authorities at the county and payam levels gain knowledge of GBV, accompanying reporting mechanisms and referral pathways, and the provision of psychological first aid for reported cases of GBV, when 18 local authorities were originally targeted
- 100% of active peace institutions at the county, payam, and boma levels incorporate at least one woman into leadership structures.
- 18 female members of the Women Welfare Agency trained on women’s rights advocacy and leadership in community-based peacebuilding in the first 4 months of the project.
- 600 girls and women complete Basic Literacy and Numeracy course.