An edited collection of new research and analysis by a selection of authors—both from Sudan and abroad—this narrative outlines the experiences and contributions of the remarkable women who guided South Sudan in its path to freedom. By telling the stories of many brave women through firsthand accounts, it highlights some of the tremendous challenges related to gender issues in South Sudan today; challenges such as a lack of access to education, high rates of gender-based violence, the prevalence of highly patriarchal traditions and customs, and poor health-care services resulting in the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Informative and hopeful, this book aspires to contribute to the creation of a policy framework that is in line with the vision of a democratic and peaceful South Sudan.

Friederike Bubenzer is a project leader of the Great Horn Desk at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town, South Africa. In this capacity she has developed and contributed to a range of transitional-justice-related processes with communities and policy makers in Uganda, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Orly Stern is a human-rights lawyer and researcher from South Africa. She works as an independent analyst, researching issues related to conflict, gender, HIV and human rights. She is currently a fellow with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.