SOUTH SUDAN / CONFLICT-RELATED SEXUAL VIOLENCE TASKFORCE

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According to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, the conflict plaguing parts of the country is continuing to cause immense harm to women and girls. UNMISS
Description

STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / CONFLICT-RELATED SEXUAL VIOLENCE TASKFORCE
TRT: 04:36
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 01 DECEMBER 2024, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

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Shotlist

FILES – SOUTH SUDAN

1. Various shots, streets, people carrying their belongings, people gathering

01 DECEMBER 2024, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Aya Warille, Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare South Sudan:
“Every day countless South Sudanese women and girls endure unthinkable suffering due to gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence. These acts are more than mere statistics. They are profound violations of human rights that fracture the very fabric of our society. They rob our mothers, sisters and daughters of their dignity and place an immense burden on our future. This is not just a women issue, it a societal crisis that speaks to the core of our humanity.”
3. Various shots, Conference room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Nyandeng Garang, Vice-President, South Sudan:
“We are embarking on a mission - a commitment to create a safer, more just society. This taskforce represents our collective recognition of the urgent need to confront gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence. These challenges we are speaking of are not so distant from us. They are present in our homes, in our communities and in the lives of those we love. As a mother and a grandmother, I cannot imagine the pain of seeing my daughter or yours suffering in silence, abandoned with a broken spirit. As a leader, I know we cannot build a strong nation if half of our people are living in fear.”
5. Various shots, Conference room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Vedad Imsirovic, Gender Affairs Officer, United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
“This taskforce is designed to follow the situation on gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence throughout the country. They will collect information from the grassroots, they will analyze it, and they will see where the most urgent action and intervention is needed. That will be the strongest tool of this taskforce. It will be an early warning mechanism but also a prevention mechanism so that local authorities are alerted in due time where to react and how to react.”
7. Various shots, Conference room
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Anita Kiki Gbeho, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, United Nations:
“We are committed to supporting South Sudan in realizing its vision, it’s vision of a peaceful, a prosperous, a stable South Sudan that is secure and where no one, least of all its women and girls are left behind.”

FILE – SOUTH SUDAN

9. Wide shot, streets, people carrying their belongings

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Storyline

According to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the conflict plaguing parts of the country is continuing to cause immense harm to women and girls.

Statistics show that at least 65 percent of women and girls experience physical, sexual and gender-based violence in their lifetime. The country is also second highest among East African nations for intimate partner violence.

Aya Warille, South Sudanese Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare said, “Every day countless South Sudanese women and girls endure unthinkable suffering due to gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence. These acts are more than mere statistics. They are profound violations of human rights that fracture the very fabric of our society. They rob our mothers, sisters and daughters of their dignity and place an immense burden on our future. This is not just a women issue, it a societal crisis that speaks to the core of our humanity.”

To tackle this scourge, South Sudan has launched its first ever national taskforce to combat gender-based and conflict related sexual violence, with the government describing the initiative as “by us, for us.”

Rebecca Nyandeng Garang, Vice-President of South Sudan, said, “We are embarking on a mission - a commitment to create a safer, more just society. This taskforce represents our collective recognition of the urgent need to confront gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence. These challenges we are speaking of are not so distant from us. They are present in our homes, in our communities and in the lives of those we love. As a mother and a grandmother, I cannot imagine the pain of seeing my daughter or yours suffering in silence, abandoned with a broken spirit. As a leader, I know we cannot build a strong nation if half of our people are living in fear.”

UNMISS and the broader UN system has supported the development of the initiative for several years, as well as protecting women and girls through proactive peacekeeping patrols, the establishment of temporary bases in conflict hotspots, and investigating and reporting on grave violations against children.

The taskforce will help build South Sudan’s own capacity to prevent and respond to this challenge, particularly as intercommunal conflict persists across the country.

UNMISS Gender Affairs Officer, Vedad Imsirovic, said, “This taskforce is designed to follow the situation on gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence throughout the country. They will collect information from the grassroots, they will analyze it, and they will see where the most urgent action and intervention is needed. That will be the strongest tool of this taskforce. It will be an early warning mechanism but also a prevention mechanism so that local authorities are alerted in due time where to react and how to react.”

The new national taskforce is just the beginning of the journey towards a country free from violence against women and girls, with the UN calling for urgent action by the government to also fast-track a new anti-gender-based violence law, establish specialized courts, family protection center, a dedicated fund to protect and support victims, and public engagement to change social norms that perpetuate this violence.

Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Anita Kiki Gbeho, said, “We are committed to supporting South Sudan in realizing its vision, it’s vision of a peaceful, a prosperous, a stable South Sudan that is secure and where no one, least of all its women and girls are left behind.”

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UNMISS
Alternate Title
unifeed241202e
Geographic Subject
MAMS Id
3316477
Parent Id
3316477