An event marking 16 days of activism against GBV in Juba’s Lemon Gaba residential area. Nov. 28, 2024. (Photo: Lou Nelson/Eye Radio).

USAID’s implementing partner, International Research and Exchange Board (IREX), is calling for collective efforts from the government and development partners to reform traditional practices in order to end Gender-Based Violence in the country.

IREX Chief of Party Linet Omwange suggested that all people including parents, caretakers and children must all advocate to reduce GBV in their communities.

The humanitarian official made the statement as the United Nations population agency (UNFPA) reveals that it has documented 6,779 gender-based violence cases in South Sudan since 2015.

UNFPA discloses that the most reported forms of GBV are physical assault and psychosocial or emotional abuse.

Meanwhile, IREX chief Ms. Omwange underscored that it is women and girls who are the most affected by gender-based violence in the country.

She called for awareness campaigns to educate the society on the need to eliminate negative cultural norms that perpetuate GBV.

“With the work that we do through the media, the youth can be reached, so that they can understand the importance of reducing the numbers of GBV that are mostly as a result of the cultural practices that we practice,” she said.

Ms. Omwange was speaking during an event to commemorate 16 days of activism against GBV in Juba’s Lemon Gaba residential area on Thursday.

“But also the economic situations that we do go through, why do we have early marriages, why do we have other practices that do not support equality between men and women, the young girls and the boys is because of some of the situations that we find ourselves in.”

“All of us here have a responsibility to be able to work against and curb those traditional practices that bring about harmful behaviors.”

“While we acknowledge that GBV is not just about the women being abused, the numbers and the statistics do who that it is actually women and girls who are much more affected by GBV.”

The UNFPA’s incident report released last week, showed a 30% increase in GBV cases in 2024 – marking a slight but concerning rise over the past six years (2018–2024), the agency said.

Women and girls are most affected, with 30% of survivors being children, primarily adolescent girls.

The highest number of rape cases have been reported in Western Equatoria. Western Bahr el Ghazal. Central Equatoria.

The UN agency emphasized the need for more robust prevention, risk mitigation, and response mechanisms, particularly in underserved areas.