South Sudan

Paragraphs that mention volunteering

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Volunteerism and SDGs Implementation  
Volunteerism and SDGs Implementation The contributions of volunteerism in South Sudan cut across all the 17 SDGs. In 2022, South Sudan was the second largest host of UN volunteers in the world, with 598 UN Volunteers with extensive professional experience to support the implementation of the SDGs. UNFPA implemented a Deploying Midwives (DM) and Strengthening Midwifery Services Projects aimed at increasing access to professional midwifery and sexual reproductive health services for women and girls in South Sudan. From 2013 to 2021, a total of 42 UN Volunteer midwives (national and international) were deployed at Government health facilities across the country. This deployment resulted in improved provision of maternal and SRH services. The volunteer midwives were also instrumental in building the capacity of the national midwives through clinical mentoring and teaching at the Health Sciences Institutes. Volunteerism under this programme extended beyond clinical care.  

Other notable examples of contribution of volunteerism include the South Sudan Red Cross Society promotion of volunteerism as mean of critical service delivery countrywide. In the education sector, the level of annual teacher recruitment has been severely affected by budgetary constraints preventing schools from recruiting permanent teachers and pushing them to fill gaps using volunteers and part-time staff funded by direct contributions from parents or through capitation grant. Data from the Ministry of General Education indicate that there are 10,697 volunteer teachers in the primary, 1,106 volunteer teachers in the Secondary and 10,154 volunteer teachers in the pre-primary education systems. Government commitment to reverse this trend is reiterated in the General Education Sector Plan (GESP) 2023–2027, which will support the recruitment of circa 13,800 teachers over the five-year period to address the shortages, giving special considerations to qualified volunteer teachers in the recruitment process.  

Strengthening collaboration among volunteerism organizations, namely the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), South Sudan Red Cross, and local volunteerism organisations will be important to address data availability and normative framework issues.  


 

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Volunteers • Help country’s efforts in the implementation of SDGs providing critical services to the vulnerable population.  

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5.7 Volunteerism and Provision of Critical Services in South Sudan 

Volunteerism plays a key role in the South Sudanese society. At the community level, people engage in mutual help and campaigns to help address developmental issues, respond to conflict, crisis, and humanitarian situations. Whether formal or informal, volunteerism’s contribution to the development and peacebuilding processes has always been crucial and fully recognized by the government and its partners. The contributions of volunteerism in South Sudan cut across all the 17 SDGs. UNFPA implemented a Deploying Midwives (DM) and Strengthening Midwifery Services Projects aimed at increasing access to professional midwifery and sexual reproductive health services for women and girls in South Sudan. From 2013 to 2021, a total of 42 UN Volunteer midwives (national and international) were deployed at Government health facilities across the country. The deployment of volunteer midwives was done at a critical juncture in South Sudan, immediately after South Sudan Independence when South Sudan only had 8 qualified midwives and when a long period of conflict had adversely affected the delivery of social services including maternal/sexual reproductive health services. This deployment resulted in improved provision of maternal and SRH services directly reaching about 1.5 million women with Antenatal Care, Skilled Birth Attendance, Post Natal Care and Family Planning services. The volunteer midwives were also instrumental in building the capacity of the national midwives through clinical mentoring and teaching at the Health Sciences Institutes. Volunteerism under this programme extended beyond clinical care. It fostered a culture of shared knowledge, community service, and resilience. The volunteer midwives brought diverse experiences and skills, creating a rich environment for learning and professional growth. Their commitment and dedication exemplified the spirit of volunteerism, demonstrating the powerful impact that volunteers can have on community health and well-being in challenging contexts. 

Other notable examples of contribution of volunteerism include the South Sudan Red Cross Society promotion of volunteerism as mean of critical service delivery countrywide. With its thousands of volunteers deployed across the country, the South Sudan Red Cross Society has contributed immensely to the implementation of the SDGs especially SDGs 2, 3, 5, SDG 6, 10, 13 and 17.In the education sector, the level of annual teacher recruitment has been severely affected by budgetary constraints preventing schools from recruiting permanent teachers and pushing them to fill gaps using volunteers and part-time staff funded by direct contributions from parents or through capitation grant. Data from the Ministry of General Education indicate that there are 10,697 volunteer teachers in the primary, 1,106 volunteer teachers in the Secondary and 10,154 volunteer teachers in the pre-primary education systems. Government commitment to reverse this trend is reiterated in the General Education Sector Plan (GESP) 2023–2027, which will support the recruitment of approximately 13,800 teachers over the next five years to address the shortages and giving special considerations to qualified volunteer teachers in the recruitment process. 

In 2022, South Sudan was the second largest host of UN volunteers in the World, after Columbia, with 598 UN Volunteers with extensive professional experience to support the implementation of the SDGs. The UN Volunteers served mostly in UN entities in the fields of health, engineering, aviation, transport and logistics, legal affairs, refugee protection, child protection, human rights, gender affairs, communications, and public information, among other areas (SDGs 4,5,16 &17). With financial assistance from the UN Peacebuilding Fund; the Government of South Sudan, IOM, UNESCO, and the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization are working with community volunteers to transform youth from gang life to becoming agents of social change. This programme aims to empower members of the gang with technical vocational skills, mental health awareness, psychosocial support, and peacebuilding activities (SDG 8 & 16). The peacebuilding initiative engaged youth in dialogue sessions on gender and in campaigns on activism related to security, governance, gender, and peacebuilding. More than 30,000 young men and women participated in community awareness events. They also took up voluntary roles in social initiatives helping vulnerable community members, including elderly people. South Sudan through the Ministry of Health launched the Boma Health Initiative (BHI) as a national strategy to improve access to health services. The BHI has been supported by UNICEF which is intended to harmonize the delivery of fragmented community health services which are largely supported by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This strategy is implemented through the support of the community health volunteers (CHVs) who strengthen linkages between communities and primary health facilities. The Eve Organization which was founded in 2005 with the aim of contributing towards social change through promoting gender equity and equality, social justice, peace and security of women and girls. Since 2008 Eve organization has been raising awareness at the grassroots level on the implementation of the 1325 UNSCR. Eve organization community volunteers train chiefs, youth, women leaders to understand the 1325 UNSCR and the National Action Plan for the implementation of the 1325 UNSCR in South Sudan. However, there is insufficient policy and regulatory framework on volunteerism. South Sudan has enacted the South Sudan Red Cross Society Act (2012), the South Sudan Education Act (2012), the Revised National Development Strategy 2021–2024, and the National Health Policy 2016-2026. These key instruments provide a solid foundation for the volunteerism work but are not sufficient to fully address issues of volunteerism in the country. There is an urgent need to put in place a more enabling legal and policy environment for the promotion of volunteerism and providing the best working conditions for volunteers.  

There are legal and policy instruments which are still on the floor of the Parliament for deliberations by the Transitional National Legislative Assembly. Among these are the South Sudan Youth Policy and Legal Aid Bill which may cater for volunteer work. In addition to policies and legislation, there is inadequate data on volunteerism in South Sudan. 

Recommendations  

▪ Expediate the enactment of the South Sudan Youth Policy, Women enterprise fund Bill, Legal Aid Bill and other key instruments to promote volunteerism and its integration in key sectors of the development. ▪ Expedite the enactment of the National Youth Service to further promote youth volunteerism. ▪ Integrate volunteerism into the next National Development Plan and key sectoral policies, plans and strategies. ▪ National Bureau of Statistics to provide a dataset for all volunteers in the country. ▪ Develop the national volunteerism policy and strategy. ▪ Develop and operationalize a national volunteer programme. ▪ Strengthening collaboration among Volunteerism Organizations, namely the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), South Sudan Red Cross, I am Peace Africa, Women 4Women, Voluntary Services Overseas, Banat Power Initiative and Eve Organization, will be important to address data and normative framework issues. 

 

Paragraphs that mention the integration of volunteering into development plans, policies and strategies

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Government commitment to reverse this trend is reiterated in the General Education Sector Plan (GESP) 2023–2027, which will support the recruitment of approximately 13,800 teachers over the next five years to address the shortages and giving special considerations to qualified volunteer teachers in the recruitment process. 

 

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South Sudan has enacted the South Sudan Red Cross Society Act (2012), the South Sudan Education Act (2012), the Revised National Development Strategy 2021–2024, and the National Health Policy 2016-2026. These key instruments provide a solid foundation for the volunteerism work but are not sufficient to fully address issues of volunteerism in the country. There is an urgent need to put in place a more enabling legal and policy environment for the promotion of volunteerism and providing the best working conditions for volunteers.