South Sudan PSEA Deep Dive Review

Protecting South Sudan’s population from sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) perpetrated by the humanitarian and development workforce remains an ever present and growing requirement. South Sudan, now in its twelfth year of independence, has an estimated 9 million people, including refugees, who are experiencing critical needs. 

 Supported by an international and national workforce of unknown quantity, adequately addressing the associated SEA risks to be found nationally remains a work in progress and one beset with cross-sectoral, upstream, and downstream challenges. 2. These challenges exist on multiple levels within six dimensions – the country context; prevention; safe, accessible, and appropriate reporting; victims’ right to assistance; accountability and investigations; and interagency PSEA country level structure and strategy. Such are the extent of the SEA risks within each of these six dimensions, South Sudan was ranked fourth globally for SEA risk, by the IASC Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Risk Overview index in 2023. With only Yemen (1st), Afghanistan (2nd) and Syria (3rd)ii. 3. To address the challenges, South Sudan’s Inter-Agency PSEA Task Force was established in 2007 and revitalized as a system-wide coordination body in 2016 under the leadership of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG), UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC). 

The Inter-Agency PSEA Task Force, comprising of UN entity and civil society membership, collective commitment on PSEA was galvanized, albeit to varying degrees, with good progress being made in a number of areas via the System-Wide PSEA Strategy 2018-23 and its respective annual workplans, including the establishment of 15 field-level PSEA task forces in priority localities and community-based complaints mechanisms, with varied functionality, in these locations.1 4. In 2021, a mid-term review of the strategy was undertaken. Its findings being used to inform the strategic adjustments to be made within the inter-agency PSEA workplans for 2022 and 2023. Building on this and with the System-Wide PSEA Strategy ending in 2023, the UNCT / HCT proposed that the appropriateness of the PSEA mechanisms and programs activated by the system-wide strategy be reviewed. 

To this end, this Inter-Agency PSEA Deep Dive Review report was commissioned in-order for its findings to inform the development of the next system-wide PSEA strategy.