The challenge

South Sudan remains one of the hardest places in the world to be a woman. Some of the barriers that South Sudanese women endure every day are:

• Pervasive attitudes about the inferior status of women perpetuated by harmful social norms 

• Uneven distribution of productive and reproductive labour

• High levels of illiteracy 

• Limited access to technical training 

• Sexual and gender-based violence 

In addition, South Sudan is at the tipping point of a food insecurity crisis – driven by ongoing conflict, severe constraints to humanitarian access and economic slowdown. 

At the heart of the food insecurity crisis are women who do backbreaking labour in and out of the home to ensure their family’s survival. Despite doing most of the labour to produce the staples and vegetables that they sell in markets, they have little to no control over how the profits are spent. In fact, very few women feel empowered or safe enough to take on leadership roles in their households and communities, despite their many contributions towards improving food security and other livelihoods.

The solution

World Vision has partnered with CARE and War Child to implement FEED II, which stands for Fortifying Equality and Economic Diversification for Resilience. 

Started in March 2020, FEED II is a women’s empowerment initiative that aims to improve food security and income-earning prospects across seven states in South Sudan. 

Our goal is to reduce inequalities between women and men in access to and control over resources to enhance food security in South Sudan. 

FEED II is built on three pillars that help strengthen resilience:

1. We teach women and girls improved nutrition practices to better manage threats to food security. They also learn new skills in managing natural and conflict-related shocks that can happen at any time.
2. We introduce female-friendly agricultural and business practices that promote sustained income generation and sustainable livelihood practices, with a focus on women and youth. 
3. We create safe and equitable spaces for women to participate in leadership, including increasing knowledge and improving attitudes and behaviours to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence.

The impact

Today, FEED II has achieved important milestones towards the goal of reaching 223,889 people in South Sudan. 

Thanks to our supporters:

• 34,230 people are participating in activities that generate income.

• 10,544 people were trained in business and entrepreneurial skills, including financial literacy and income-generating activities. 

• 9,997 people were actively involved in savings groups, providing them with financial literacy training and access to small loans.