The Challenge

South Sudan has been named as the worst country in the world for girls to get an education. A South Sudanese women is around twice as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than she is to have completed secondary school.

As in many African countries, women and girls are responsible for most household tasks, including cooking and childcare. Collecting water alone can take up to eight hours a day in many villages. But South Sudan has also been disrupted by decades of war and underinvestment, and school enrolment is the world's lowest. By the age of around 10 only 1 in 5 girls are still in school, and before they reach adulthood half of South Sudanese girls are already married. Barriers to education include economic, domestic and cultural pressures and the lack of access to schooling.

The facts

Death Rates of Infants

Poor sanitation, hygiene and healthcare kills young babies. The under-5 mortality rate in South Sudan is 99 per 1,000 births, ranked in the world’s worst 4%.

Early Marriage Steals Childhood

Although the legal age for marriage in South Sudan is 18, 52% of South Sudanese girls are married before reaching their 18th birthday, with some marrying as young as 12.

Sexual assault against young girls

Worldwide, nearly 50% of all sexual assaults are against girls under the age of 15 years old. Rape within marriage is not deemed illegal in South Sudan, and 79% of women report that it a husband is justified in beating his wife in some circumstances.

Teenage Childbirth Kills Both Mothers and Babies

More women die in childbirth, per capita, in South Sudan, than in any country in the world.

Girls between the ages of 10 - 14 are five times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than women aged 20 - 24. The baby of a mother under 18 has a 60% greater risk of dying in its first year than the baby of a mother over 19. 1 in 20 girls dies between her 5th and 15th birthdays.

Illiteracy and Lack of Education

Decades of civil war have robbed a whole generation of their education. Over 70% of adult women (and 60% of men) are illiterate. School enrolment in South Sudan is the world's lowest, According to UNESCO over 64% of children between the ages of 6 and 11 (over 1.5 million children) are not in school.

Only around a quarter of teachers are trained and few schools have rooves, let alone desks and books. Opportunities for girls are particularly bleak.

Diet of Conflict

South Sudan is one of the worlds’ poorest countries. Devastated by decades of war, the country lacks even basic infrastructure.

60-75% of the people are living on less than one US dollar a day. Only 27% have access to clean drinking water. Only 15% to safe sanitation.

South Sudan

South Sudan began to emerge from nearly four decades of war with Sudan in 2005, when the two main protagonists signed a peace agreement. This enshrined South Sudan's right to self-determination, and it became an independent nation on 9 July 2011.

The struggle for power in the world's newest country turned violent again in late 2013, and since then nearly 400,000 have died as a result, around a fifth as many as those who died in the 1983-2005 civil war. 4.3 million people (over one in 3 of the population) are displaced, over half of them in neighbouring countries.

South Sudan is one of Africa’s least developed countries, and is heavily reliant on oil (over 90% of its national revenue) and international aid. The fall in oil prices during the Covid-19 pandemic has a massive impact on an already struggling country. The country urgently needs to diversify its economy, but this is hampered by political rivalry and the lack of physical infrastructure - and of course by limited education.

Click on the link below for more key facts on South Sudan, read our whistle-stop history of South Sudan here, or the BBC's profile and timeline for the country here.

South Sudan fact sheet

Solutions

Educate to elevate

Educating a woman not only elevates her, but also uplifts her children, community and country. Women are more likely to pass on their knowledge to others within their family and community. “Women’s empowerment helps raise economic productivity and reduce infant mortality. It contributes to improved health and nutrition. It increases the chances of education for the next generation.” - UN Development Programme

Educate for peace

Education can change the fabric of society, promoting a more peaceful and productive way of life. As the much-cited African proverb says, "When you educate a woman, you educate a nation". We would add that when you educate a girl, you heal a nation.

Educate for economic empowerment

“Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world. The question is not whether countries can afford this investment, but whether countries can afford not to educate girls.” Lawrence Summers, when chief economist at the World Bank

Educate to protect

Girls who stay in school have a later sexual debut, are less likely to be subjected to forced sex, and if sexually active are more likely to understand how to use contraception.

Educate for personal and community development

Education can help South Sudanese girls to contribute as transformed and empowered women, to the development of their communities and to the leadership of this new nation.