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Documents

Overview

1. BACKGROUND

South Sudan has been plagued with years of armed conflict. Since its independence, the people, communities, and institutions of South Sudan have had the opportunity to focus on rebuilding the country. However, the prolonged conflict and insecurity have created an environment particularly challenging for sustainable peace. The fragility of justice and security institutions, paired with a militarized environment, contributes to a pervasive culture of violence.

Owing to insufficient financial and human resources, South Sudan’s justice institutions have struggled to guarantee universal access to justice and protection of human rights. Many citizens, notably marginalized groups and communities including women, girls, internally displaced people (IDPs) and returnees, remain without sufficient access to fair, effective, and efficient justice, as well as security services. Deficiencies in the justice and security systems impede the realization of legitimate stability, leaving individuals, families, and communities without adequate safety or security, access to sufficient justice, or redress for past and ongoing human rights violations. 

The existing barriers to accessing justice have particularly dire impacts on survivors of, as well as those at an elevated risk of being subjected to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). SGBV negatively affects the health and wellbeing of women and children in South Sudan. A lingering impact of past conflicts, SGBV is a widespread issue where perpetrators of SGBV face little to no consequences, allowing impunity to continue. Even when justice is accessible, survivors may refrain from exercising their rights due to fear of stigma or reprisals.

In response to the challenges of particularly SGBV survivors, UNDP in partnership with the Judiciary of South Sudan, with funding from the Kingdom of Netherlands, supported the establishment of a Specialized Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Juvenile Court stationed in Juba. Since December 2020, the GBV and Juvenile Court has been hearing cases in efforts to address impunity for gender-based crimes and hold perpetrators accountable. The aim of the GBV Court is to ensure the protection of women and girls’ human rights and accountability of perpetrators, as well as prevention efforts of re-victimization and stigmatization. The Juvenile Court has been determining cases of children in conflict with the law and deciding on appropriate sentences.  

Despite these efforts, the GBV Court continues to face operational challenges in the delivery of justice for victims of SGBV. The court serves with limited financial and human resources and is difficult to access for those not living in the capital city. These limitations have resulted in delays in court proceedings, posing a risk to the court’s ability to ensure timely legal processes and other human rights obligations enshrined in the eleven international and regional treaties to which South Sudan is signatory.

Juvenile offenders and GBV survivors have inadequate information about their rights, available legal and support services, and the jurisdiction and processes of the GBV and Juvenile Courts. This information gap, coupled with other notable barriers like shame, stigma, negative cultural norms and practices, and fear of reprisals often prevent survivors from seeking justice and or support. Because of lack of critical information on the due process of law, Children in conflict with the law - who are especially vulnerable due to their age, level of maturity, or poverty - often suffer discrimination and re-victimization due to limited awareness of due process. Additionally, public awareness especially among indigent communities, remains low regarding the rights of juvenile offenders and GBV survivors, the existence referral pathways, and the role and functions of the GBV and Juvenile Courts in South Sudan. 

To address these challenges and improve public awareness on GBV and Juvenile Justice issues, as well as the work of the GBV and Juvenile Courts in South Sudan, UNDP is seeking to engage a competent and reputable Civil Society Organization (CSO), National Non-Governmental Organization (NNGO), or Community-based Organization (CBO). The selected entity will carry out community outreaches and dialogues, as well as radio awareness programmes – including talk shows, jingles, dramas, and Public Service Announcements (PSAs). The outreach topics will be developed by the CSO/NNGO/CBO in collaboration with UNDP and the GBV and Juvenile Court. 

This Call for Proposals (CFP) is specifically related to the UNDP’s Access to Justice, Security, and Human Rights Programme Output 2 of the 2025 AWP; “Most vulnerable people particularly women, girls, SGBV survivors, IDPs and returnees have increased equal access to a fair and effective justice system.” 

1. OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED OUTPUTS/ DELIVERABLES 

The objective of this Call for Proposals is to identify one CSO or NNGO or CBO with operational presence and capacity in Juba to raise awareness and disseminate information on the right of access to justice via the GBV and Juvenile courts in Juba, as well as the work and legal remedies of the two specialized courts. 

Applicants are encouraged to develop their own expected results based on their analysis of the needs and particularities of the context and problems. The expected results may include the following: 

1. Enhanced public awareness of over 1,000,000 people on the jurisdiction of the GBV and Juvenile Courts, court processes for GBV survivors and juvenile offenders, access to legal representation, and protection of the needs and rights of GBV survivors and juveniles, and other key related topics. 
2. Increased uptake of cases at the GBV and Juvenile Courts by 5% because of awareness.
3. Strengthened legal empowerment of women and girls at risk of GBV, survivors of GBV, and communities in South Sudan to protect themselves from violence and combat GBV in all its forms.
4. Increased advocacy for survivors of GBV and children’s access to justice and legal remedies through the available legal framework and GBV and Juvenile Courts.

Detailed objectives and related outputs and deliverables are provided in the Terms of Reference – Annex 1

Final Beneficiaries

Eligible proposals will be those focused on direct and indirect impact, and targeting SGBV survivors, juvenile offenders, judicial officers and court staff, law enforcement agencies, community leaders, traditional leaders, policy makers and government institutions, and relevant service providers as the direct and final beneficiaries.