South Sudan has experienced cycles of conflict since before its independence in 2011. Since the start of the civil war, the country has faced displacement, violence, and high rates of sexual and gender-based violence. Despite the 2018 peace deal, South Sudan continues to face intermittent violence, political instability, climate shocks, and floods. The humanitarian situation is critical, with millions of people in need.

This Rapid Gender Analysis on Power and Participation is part of the Women Lead in Emergencies project in Wau, Wau County, Western Bahr el-Ghazal State. This project is funded by Global Affairs Canada. It aims to support crisis-affected women to participate more and in more meaningful ways in community and public life and in humanitarian response in South Sudan.

This is the first Rapid Gender Analysis on Power and Participation (RGA-P) conducted in Wau. It has three main objectives: (1) analysis of crisis-affected women’s access to, and influence within, decision-making of different kinds; (2) provide practical programming and operational recommendations to support crisis-affected women to participate more in decision-making, and in more meaningful ways; and (3) identify gaps for further assessment and analysis to build a more comprehensive understanding of women’s participation and leadership in Wau over time.

The RGA-P is composed of primary qualitative data collection and a secondary data review. Primary data collection took place between Dec 2nd and Dec 6th, 2022, in four locations across Wau. It included 20 focus group discussions, 14 key informant interviews, and 4 community mappings. A total of 249 people participated, including 133 women and 116 men. This data was supplemented a validation workshop with several women’s associations and leaders.