As leaders from South Sudan’s family planning community arrived at the Pyramid Hotel in Juba on March 25, news headlines announced that record-breaking heat would keep schools closed for another day. Dangerous temperatures—and the threats of climate change—are among multiple crises facing South Sudan that compelled the Ministry of Health of South Sudan (MOHSS), FP2030, and PROPEL Adapt to partner on several initiatives to support the country’s emergency preparedness and response FP2030 commitments.
Addressing Urgent Challenges
In 2023, over four million people were displaced by conflict and weather disasters in South Sudan, blocking access to essential healthcare services–particularly family planning information and services, which are not always included in crisis response. Recognizing this need, the Government of South Sudan has made significant commitments to improve access to information and services for populations affected by crises and gathered its family planning technical working group to develop an action plan.
“As a ministry, we are reviewing our policies in emergency response and preparedness and ensuring that Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) services are incorporated in these policies.”
– Dr. Michael Mading, Director General of the MOHSS
“We don’t need to look outside of South Sudan for answers,” said Dr. Abraham Thubo, FP2030 Civil Society Organization (CSO) Focal Point and Executive Director of the Reproductive Health Association of South Sudan. “We can explain the advantages of family planning to communities in a way that promotes peace building and prosperity, and local leaders will be convinced.”
Strategic Commitments
South Sudan’s commitments include:
- Improving system responsiveness to reach hard-to-reach populations by implementing policy, program, and financing strategies.
- Conducting an annual review of the National Humanitarian Contingency Plan.
- Rehabilitating health infrastructure in humanitarian-affected areas
- Strengthening coordination at the national, state, and local levels.
- Allocating funds within the Humanitarian Ministry to SRH services in humanitarian responses.
The Importance of Advocating for FP in Crises
“Family planning needs are not put on hold and do not disappear during a crisis—it is rather the opposite,” said Oren Jusu, FP2030 Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response. “Emergencies increase already existing chronic vulnerabilities often faced by women, girls, and marginalized populations. It is hence increasingly important to provide access to FP to prevent unintended pregnancies, facilitate proper birth spacing, and reduce the burden of maternal mortality.”
Advocacy to include FP in crisis planning has faced challenges. Some leaders do not consider family planning lifesaving, while others struggle to make the case in the face of competing, urgent needs. Financing has been a barrier—with only 1% of the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) budget is directed to reproductive health. Champions have struggled to convince peers, local leaders, and donors that preparedness and family planning are investments in South Sudan’s health and stability.
To address this, FP2030 and PROPEL Adapt are supporting advocates to make the case–and leveraged a SMART Advocacy Training to develop FP/RH resilience messages and tools for FP/RH advocates to be used in and beyond South Sudan. Participants identified SMART advocacy objectives to develop a preparedness policy that includes FP; establish a civil society forum around FP and EPR; and increase budget allocation for reproductive health, more specifically to FP.
CSO leaders and MoH champions also recommended that donors increase investments in social and behavior change at the community level, calling it necessary to implement family planning policies down to the last mile.
Representatives from the Ministry of Health, national and international organizations, and United Nations agencies co-developed compelling arguments and action plans and engaged in role-playing exercises to practice making the case to target ministers. Notably, Ministry officials actively participated as themselves in the exercises, providing valuable feedback.
Turning Insights into Tools
Insights from the workshop were shared with strategic communications firm Brevity & Wit, resulting in fact sheets, one-pagers, and advocacy messages for policymakers, donors, and NGO partners. These materials were validated in March 2024, with recommendations to:
- Link family planning and peacebuilding since maintaining peace is every leader’s single priority.
- Strengthen messages on need for funding to address norms on family planning and work with local authorities and leaders.
- Include more youth-specific/adolescent statistics and data sources.
- Highlight advantages of FP use for family well-being and reducing conflict over resources.
PROPEL Adapt included the South Sudan messages in its global FP/RH Resilience Advocacy Toolkit, launched via a webinar on May 2, 2024. The Toolkit contains fact sheets, one-pagers, and plug-and-play templates to advocate for FP/RH as indispensable in emergency preparedness and response.
Youth Engagement and Future Plans
During the training, the MOHSS nominated Emmanuella Dwatuka, to join the focal point structure as the Youth Focal Point and lead the youth advocacy work in South Sudan.
“Adolescents and youth access to SRH services and information in South Sudan has been a challenge for many years,” said Emmanuella, who also serves as the Executive Director of AfriYAN, a network of youth led organizations working on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. “Cultural norms that are uplifted by the society prevents youth people from full engagement in SRHR and adolescents and youth are not meaningfully recognized.”
“Being the FP2030 Youth Focal Point for South Sudan will help me have an extended platform to engage with leaders and key stakeholder across and beyond the country to find innovative ways of solving adolescent and youth challenges relating to access to quality, affordable and timely SRH services.”
Continued Support to enact FP2030 Workplan
FP2030 and PROPEL Adapt will continue to support the MOHSS to implement its 2024 workplan, which strives to increase domestic resources for family planning, promote social and behavior change communication to transform norms in favor of gender equality, improve data and supply chain for contraceptives, and increase access to adolescent-friendly FP information and services.
Through these initiatives, South Sudan aims to ensure that FP and SRH services remain accessible even in times of crisis, ultimately contributing to the country’s health and stability.
About PROPEL Adapt
PROPEL Adapt, a five-year project funded by USAID, strengthens the enabling environment and helps health systems become more resilient, so countries can withstand shocks and stressors and continue to provide vital health services, including family planning information, services, and supplies. By working with partner governments and local actors to strengthen policy, advocacy, financing, and governance, PROPEL Adapt helps countries maintain continuity of essential health services in the face of shocks and stressors.
