[{"bbox": [96, 106, 388, 136], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 1.2 Summary of the Action"}, {"bbox": [83, 161, 1146, 243], "category": "Text", "text": "Ten years after independence (2011) of South Sudan, the situation in the country remains structurally fragile. Protracted conflicts, climate-related shocks, inadequate public finance management, unemployment and limited government capacities and responsiveness have eroded livelihoods and coping strategies in South Sudan."}, {"bbox": [83, 253, 1146, 308], "category": "Text", "text": "The objective of this action is to increase literacy among the most vulnerable with a focus on girls, host communities, displaced and returnees and to enhance equal opportunities."}, {"bbox": [83, 319, 1147, 506], "category": "Text", "text": "The EU will continue its support to ensure access to basic services for people living in the most vulnerable situations across South Sudan. Particularly, access to education nation-wide with a focus on girls and children with disabilities and access to education for displaced and returnees (IDP, refugees) in host communities, will be at the core of this action. The intervention will include support to livelihood and food security (food insecurity is one of the causes of low school enrolment). Conflict sensitivity tools (from EU and implementing partners) and conflict reduction mechanisms will mitigate risks of doing harm. The action will also address public finance management in order to ensure improved national budget allocations followed by actual disbursements for education."}, {"bbox": [83, 517, 1147, 677], "category": "Text", "text": "The action is fully in line with the priority area on 'Human Development' as defined in the Multi-annual indicative program for South Sudan 2021-2027. The action contributes to the EU Gender Action Plan III (GAP III)² and particularly to its specific objective 2 \"Reduce gender disparities in attainment, progression and enrolment for girls\". The action will directly contribute to achieving several targets of SDG 4 \"quality education\", and will have an impact on all other SDG, mainly on food security (SDG 2), SDG 5 \"gender equality\", SDG 10 \"reducing inequality and social cohesion/conflict reduction mechanisms\" (SDG 16)."}, {"bbox": [72, 718, 309, 750], "category": "Section-header", "text": "# 2 RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [94, 781, 220, 808], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.1 Context"}, {"bbox": [83, 836, 1147, 970], "category": "Text", "text": "South Sudan ranks globally amongst the top 3 most fragile states. The 2020 UNDP Human Development Index ranks South Sudan at 185th place out of 189 countries. Decades of war and conflicts have created massive social and economic instability, caused trauma, and entrenched grievances. Conflict, displacement, the centralisation of investment and powers, and wartime destruction have left many communities impoverished. Civilians, in particular the most vulnerable, bear the brunt of widespread subnational conflicts and violence."}, {"bbox": [83, 982, 1147, 1090], "category": "Text", "text": "The civil war 2013 - 2015 caused the displacement of an estimated one third of the population (2.27 million South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries and 1.71 million internally displaced persons (IDP)³. Approximately 8.3 million people are estimated in need of humanitarian assistance in 2021, including 1.6 million internally displaced people (IDP). Severe food insecurity affects 7.2 million people."}, {"bbox": [83, 1101, 1147, 1285], "category": "Text", "text": "While return/displacement trends remain erratic and difficult to predict, the on-going dynamic of voluntary and spontaneous returns needs to be factored in development cooperation action in South Sudan. IDPs and refugees do not always come back to their place of origin, and issues regarding land, housing and property often create tensions between returnees and host communities which in addition lack the capacity (basic services) to ensure adequate reintegration. Due to the compounding effects of insecurity, vulnerability to natural disasters, scarce livelihood opportunities, limited infrastructure, scarce economic resources, and lack of basic services many of these host communities and IDPs, returnees are in need of humanitarian assistance"}, {"bbox": [83, 1299, 1147, 1512], "category": "Text", "text": "The state institutions do not respond to the dire humanitarian situation (basic needs, human rights, human development) and needs of its citizens. The public financial management system is opaque and overly depends on oil revenue. South Sudan has been ranked by Transparency International as the most corrupt country in 2020. 95% of the country's revenues are coming from oil and the economy is badly exposed to oil prices fluctuation inflation is very high. Most of the budget will be spent on repaying debt, and much of the rest on security, with only around 1% left to spend on social services (education, health): most of the basic services are provided through international aid. The quality of the education system needs to be improved. Teachers' salaries are very low (average USD 3 per month) and paid unreliably. This lack of sustainable revenue prevents them from continuing to teach as they need to find"}, {"bbox": [72, 1563, 1158, 1614], "category": "Footnote", "text": "² EU Gender Action Plan (GAP) III - An Ambitious Agenda for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in EU External Action, https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/system/files/join-2020-17-final_en.pdf"}, {"bbox": [72, 1612, 539, 1638], "category": "Footnote", "text": "³ https://www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/south-sudan/"}, {"bbox": [1051, 1663, 1158, 1687], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 20"}]