Firas Raad, World Bank Country Manager for South Sudan addressing reporters at the Institution's office in Juba/ Photo by Doru Penina/26.05.2022

The World Bank has approved a 70-million-dollar grant to boost women’s social and economic empowerment in South Sudan.

The global financial institution said the funding will support female entrepreneurs in scaling up their business activities.

The South Sudan Women and Social and Economic Empowerment Project or rather SSWSEEP, is a four-year project that will be implemented by South Sudan’s Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare with the support of UN Women.

It will target 91,000 women and 5,200 adolescent girls including survivors of gender-based violence, while indirectly reaching 673,400 people across South Sudan.

The World Bank stated that for generations, South Sudanese women have supported their families and communities by engaging in entrepreneurial activities.

However, their progress has often been constrained by a mixture of prevailing social norms, institutional impediments, and insufficient access to education, training, business services, and access to financing.

In her remarks on the funding the Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare for South Sudan said the support is going change some many women’s lives.

Aya Benjamin Warile said “Empowering women to participate fully in civic and economic life will make South Sudan more prosperous and peaceful. With improved financial security, other areas of women’s lives will also improve, as they can more easily afford health services, send their children to school, and are more likely to serve in leadership roles in their communities and become agents of change.”

The World Banks says the project is aligned the institution’s engagement not for South Sudan fiscal budget for 2021/2023.

It will include a cross-cutting focus on women and youth to help reduce fragility, facilitate peace-building and promote inclusive development in the country.

The project said to have taken a holistic approach will also strengthen the public sector’s capacity to engage more actively in women’s empowerment to ensure long-term benefits for future generations of South Sudanese women and girls.

For his paart, Firas Raad, World Bank Country Manager for South Sudan said “Survivors of gender-based violence require substantial support to recover from the physical and psychological trauma that they have endured. This project will help expand their access to vital health services and psycho-social support, and will work on strengthening the prevention of GBV.”