Democracy and Governance - A DECADES-LONG PARTNERSHIP: USAID AND THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH SUDAN DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE IN SOUTH SUDAN

Democracy and Governance USAID/Nick Acosta Democracy and Governance A DECADES-LONG PARTNERSHIP: USAID AND THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH SUDAN The partnership between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the people of South Sudan goes back decades. [...] Misuse of public funds, corruption, and human rights violations—including against women and girls, journalists, and activists—restrict civic space and democratic progress. [...] STRENGTHENING CIVIL SOCIETY AND BUILDING LASTING PEACE Years of war, political and social turmoil, and recurring waves of national and subnational violence have decimated South Sudanese civil society. [...] A resurgence of intense conflict in Juba and other parts of the country in 2016 exposed thousands of civilians to additional indiscriminate ethnically-motivated violence and trauma. [...] In the absence of minimal human rights protections, USAID promotes trauma awareness, reconciliation, and transitional justice, working through local civil society organizations such as the Transitional Justice Working Group to establish survivor groups that bring atrocity survivors together with indigenous chiefs, youth and women’s organizations, and local authorities to share and process their tr.