Women Agency for Resilience and Transformation (WART), is a women-led national NGO founded in 2017 by South Sudanese survivors of gender-based violence. We are dedicated to building womens’ resilience to events which impact on livelihoods, nutrition, health, and development; by empowering and capacity-building the women of South Sudan.
WART’s key focus is on South Sudanese women and girls; given the social, cultural, and economic barriers to equality they face. The protracted crises in South Sudan disproportionately affect women and girls who suffer hideous consequences of violence, abuse, deprivation; and loss of livelihoods. As women in a conflict-affected country, most of the South Sudanese women, especially those in the rural areas have less than $1.00 a day to live on; thus continue to struggle to meet their basic needs; and those of their families.
On top of this, women within South Sudan are at a heightened risk of experiencing sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), as well as intimate partner violence and/or domestic violence, which largely goes unreported due to various factors including: illiteracy, patriarchal culture and a lack of awareness of available GBV services. Illiteracy in South Sudan is also extremely high, especially among women and girls, as education for the girl child is not readily valued; while a significant percentage of the girls who do attend school are forcefully married by the time they are 15 years old.
At WART we believe that the situation for women and girls in South Sudan can and must change for the country to realise development. To achieve this, WART focuses on women and their power to create a ripple effect: as when women are empowered, they empower their families and communities to enact positive change. As a women-led organisation, WART reaches out to at-risk women and girls, providing them with social, livelihood, and economic skills to transform their lives.
Our beneficiaries put these skills into practice while passing on the knowledge and skills to those around them. Our emphasis is on helping women and girls learn the skills they need to transform their lives and communities; which in turn builds communities’ resilience to events which negatively affect them.
Empowerment:
WART believes that every South Sudanese woman is unique and powerful. We believe that women and girls are a great asset to South Sudan. Therefore, we are committed to supporting them to achieve their full potential through capacity development, providing information, and giving them the support they need to solve challenges independently. As we impact women, we encourage them to take risks and make mistakes. We document our best practices to ensure our beneficiaries can succeed and thrive.
Resilience:
Everyday we see the strength of women survivors of war and their ability to never lose hope; despite having faced the greatest atrocities of conflict. They continually inspire us to remain positive, optimistic and committed to our shared global purpose.
Integrity:
We will never communicate in a way which exploits or demeans the women we seek to serve. We will deliver programs that maximise the impact for women, to bring them the greatest benefits to facilitate a sustainable, long-term and positive change in their lives.
Transformation:
We work closely with boys and men within our communities to help them challenge the culture of toxic masculinity; and instead embrace a positive mindset change which promotes the rights for women and girls. In doing so, we believe that this mindset-transformation is crucial in building a resilient nation.
Respect:
WART believes that every woman has the right to be treated with respect and dignity. We trust each other implicitly; confident in the knowledge that we are working towards the same goal. Equally, we hold each other responsible and accountable at all levels of the organisation for the outcomes of our actions. We will be concise and open in our communication with our colleagues across the organisation, and not allow disrespectful behaviour to go unchallenged.