Research on budget information and gaps, and disseminate findings of the budget analysis
Between January and March CRC searched through the different ministries for budget information and managed to receive the national budget plan and the approved national budget for the 2023/2024 budget, including two quarters’ expenditure data required for the analysis.
The budget analysis will commence once the government completed the development of the budget plan for 2024/2025 expected in June.
The CSOs and CBOs will undergo a refresher training exercise on budget monitoring to equip them with practical knowledge and lead the budget analysis.
Conducted training of the sub-national communities and CSOs on advocacy skills using the Bridge for Voices approach and budget monitoring & expenditure tracking.
From the 16th – 19th April 2024, the child rights coalition in collaboration with the save the children international conducted the mutual capacity development training in Bor Jonglei state aimed at the capacity strengthening and technical support to civil society organizations (CSOs), community based organizations (CBOs), media houses and academia on bridge4voices approach, BMET, community engagement, communication and advocacy at local level; to understand practical exercise of evidence generation for advocacy at state and county levels; to enhance the budget advocacy actions at national, state and county levels.
The training was attended by 21 participants who will use their skills and knowledge gained during the training. The participants will start the budget advocacy at the state level and will also join the other CSOs at the national level to analyze the national government budget and engage the parliament and line ministries to increase budget for food security, nutrition and Wash in 2024/2025 national budget.
Conducted 4 days of BMET training to CBOs and CSOs on technical skills to track, analyse, report on and advocate for increased budget allocations and actual expenditures on nutrition and WASH.
The Child Rights Civil Society Coalition, in collaboration with the Civil Society Budget Advocacy group of Right2Grow in Uganda with support from Save the Children International conducted a four-day training on South Sudan Budget Monitoring and Expenditure Tracking from May 27th to 30th, 2023, at Crown Hotel in Juba, South Sudan. The training was attended by 26 participants from Child Rights Coalition member organizations, Rights2Grow Consortium members, SUN Movement members, and Media houses.
The training has provided technical skills and knowledge to do budget monitoring and budget analysis specially on national budget framework paper 2024/2025 in which the outcome for budget analysis will be used for budget advocacy before the national budget is approved.
During the training, the participants learned about budget monitoring and expenditure tracking (BMET) concepts and applications, learned steps in Budget Advocacy, understood a guide to engaging on the national and local level budget process, gained quick insights into budget analysis and expenditure tracking skills, learned CSO budget advocacy road map, participatory budget framework, enlightened on South Sudan public sector budget, concepts, processes and tools, oriented on the use of the community budget performance & service delivery tracking tool, and completed practical drafting of the lay out and flow of budget advocacy policy brief and position papers as well as presentation techniques to the decision makers. The participants will convene for a three-day meeting once the national budget plan is ready for analysis, development of the budget advocacy position papers and presentation to specific specialised committees on food security, nutrition and WASH in the parliament to influence better allocations before the approval of FY 2024/2025 national budget.
Conducted 3 days’ budget analysis and developed position papers on Food Security, Health, WASH and Humanitarian Affairs.
On 27th – 29th August 2024, the child rights coalition in collaboration with CEGAA, and the Save the Children International conducted a 3 days’ budget analysis and developed position papers on Food Security, Health, WASH and Humanitarian Affairs.
The budget analysis was done by 25 CSOs from CRC member organizations, Right2Grow Partners and SUN Movement at state and nation level. The CSOs use their skills and knowledge gained during the BMET training in May 2024.
During the budget analysis, the CSOs generated evidence data from the 2022/2023, 2023/2024 budgets and the 2024/2025 proposed indicative budget ceiling. The CSOs also examined the Revised National Development strategy and Speech of the President delivered to parliament in April 2024, including the government commitments to confirm alignment and observe budget gaps that need improvement.
With deep commitment and hard work, together the CSOs finalized the position papers and shared with the CEGAA facilitator for review and final comments.
The position papers were presented by CSOs to specific specialized committees in the parliament at the committee level for adoption, and during the public budget hearing in the parliament. Attached herein is the final version of the position paper for reference.
Conducted a workshop for children-led groups to support them in participating in the Budget Sector Working Groups (BSWG)
On 12th October, 2024. CRC conducted a workshop in Juba for 4 children led groups to support them participate in the Budget Sector Working Groups (BSWG). The workshop was attended by 35 child rights club members, matrons and patrons from St. Lawrence Primary School, Angel Palace Primary School, CMS Primary School, and Elite High School including the CRC secretariat. As a result of the workshop the children learned the budgeting process in South Sudan, became more familiar with actions and steps for children involvement in budgeting and developed their expressed views in a position paper for budget advocacy to be presented by their representatives during parliamentarians’ engagement meeting.
Presentation of the CSOs’ budget analysis to Parliament in South Sudan.
The Unity Government’s budget report for 2024/25, the Financial Bill, and the Appropriation Bill have been presented in their second reading. MPs stressed the need for accountability, effective budget execution, and service delivery. Key areas of concern include health, agriculture, education, water supply, emergency fund for disaster response and the Constituency Development Fund to fund community projects. The Child Rights Civil Society Coalition attended the sitting, focusing on whether its budget recommendations on food security, nutrition and WASH have been considered in the second reading report. It is worth mentioning that some of the CRC recommendations have been adopted, for example, the allocation of 10% of the total budget to agriculture, the construction of water pipes, among others.
Supported the dissemination and socialization of the recently ratified CRPD.
On 24 February 2023, South Sudan took a historic step forward for disability inclusion by signing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This means that the government will now have a legal duty to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of people with disabilities in South Sudan.
The CRPD is the main international law that promotes the human rights of people with disabilities. Adopted by the UN in December 2006, it was written in collaboration with civil society organisations, national human rights institutions, and inter-governmental organisations. Crucially, people with disabilities had a leading voice in shaping the CRPD.
In light of this background, the Child Rights Civil Society Coalition in partnership with Save the Children International and with funding from the NORAD Framework 2024-2028 conducted a one-day dissemination and socialization of the recently ratified United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 30th April 2024 at Palm Africa Hotel in Juba, South Sudan. The dissemination was attended by 26 participants from CSOs, CBOs, Union of persons with disabilities, women led organizations and media who were child protection representatives, focal points and experts on persons with disabilities.
The background and contents of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was presented and hard copies of the documented printed and distributed to participants to share further with their respective organizations and further dissemination. The participants commended the government for ratifying the convention and expressed their deep commitment to engage the government line ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare to consider prioritizing actions and procedures that will result into the implementation of the convention.
The participants swiftly form a committee of five representatives to write a position paper on the next steps to start the convention’s implementation and schedule a meeting with the minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare and chairperson of the specialized committee on Gender, Child and Social Welfare in the parliament.
The committee will meet for a half day in 3rd week of July 2024 to discuss the contents of the position paper, draft and make appointment with the government representatives identified to engage. The outcomes of the meeting with the government will be the next action points for convention advocacy by the civil society.
Researched on budget for children information and gaps analysis.
Between August 19 and August 30, 2024 CRC secretariat searched through the different child line ministries for budget information and managed to receive the national budget plan and approved national budget for 2022/2023 to 2023/2024 including the proposed budget for 2024/25.
The CRC secretariat also managed to access the government’s Revised National Development Strategy 2021-2024 and the speech of the president delivered to the parliament in April 2024 during the official opening of the parliament. These documents are key in analysing the budget for children against the government commitments toward the children. The budget for children analysis 2024 was completed on August 30, 2024, by the CRC Secretariat and will undergo review and validation to ensure accuracy of the data generated.
The budget for children analysis will be disseminated to child-led groups in Juba by September 2024 in order for children to develop their own position papers on education, health and social protection and engage the specialized committees in the parliament for consideration of issues and recommendations before the annual budget for FY 2024/2025 is debated and approved by parliament.
Workshop on the development of position papers to advocate for a declaration of the marriageable age and ratification of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in South Sudan.
On 25th-26th September 2024, the Child Right Coalition, with support from Save the Children International through NORAD funding, organized a two-day’ workshop on the development of position papers to advocate for a declaration of the marriageable age and ratification of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in South Sudan. The combined two-day meeting was attended by 21 participants from CRC member organizations.
The purpose of the meeting was to bring CSOs together to generate advocacy evidence on children’s charter and marriageable age, respectively, and strategize on how to meet the Minister of Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Sudan to consider the two position papers for swift actions.
On the first day of the meeting, the CSOs learned about the history of the children’s charter, its strengths, and the actions taken by the South Sudanese government toward ratification in 2014. They then divided into groups to draft the position paper. On the second day, the CSOs examined the South Sudan Constitution, Child Act 2008, Penal Code, and Code of Civil Procedures and determined that the marriageable age is undefined. The CSOs also used petitions on marriageable age for 2017 and 2021 by Advocates Without Borders and the Charity Empowerment Foundation as the basis for the position paper.
The two position papers were developed, and the CRC secretariat finalized the draft and shared it with member organizations for validation. In addition, eight representatives have been nominated to present the papers to the concerned government authorities. Attached herein are the position papers for reference.
The dissemination of child-friendly budgets so that children understand the budget for their advocacy activities around the government
On October 5, 2024, the Child Rights Civil Society Coalition, with support from Save the Children International through NORAD funding, organized a one-day dissemination of child-friendly budgets so that children understand the budget for their advocacy activities around government. The meeting was attended by 20 children from four child rights clubs: St. Lawrence Child Rights Club, Elite Child Rights Club, Angel Palace Child Rights Club, and CMS Child Rights Club, including three patrons who accompanied the children from school to the venue and residential areas.
The purpose of the meeting was for children to understand the South Sudan government budget, disseminate the budget for children analysis 2022/2023–2024/2025, and discuss the evidence gaps of budget analysis 2023/2024 to inform FY 2024/2025 national budget.
During the meeting, a simplified child-friendly budget analysis was presented to children to understand the budget for their advocacy activities around government. The analysis helped children through graphs to know the government allocations from 2022/2023–2024/2025 for the ministry of general education and instruction, the Ministry of health, and the Ministry of gender, child, and social welfare. The children also managed to understand the government’s commitment on the child line ministries and compare with the actual allocations, which helped children to observed gaps and suggested possible recommendations to inform parliamentarians budget debate before the final approval.
As a result of the meeting, the children expressed their views and opinions in a position paper on education, health, and social protection and selected five children’s representatives to submit the children’s budget findings in the 2024/2025 proposed budget to the parliament for consideration. However, due to school working hours, the budget for children analysis for the child line ministries was submitted alongside the children position paper to the parliament by the Child Rights Coalition during the national budget public hearing on October 30, 2024.
Establishment of High-Level Government Committee to Monitor the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Concluding Observations in South Sudan.
On August 18, 2024, The Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare of the Republic of South Sudan, in collaboration with Save the Children International and the Child Rights Civil Society Coalition with support from NORAD, organized a half-day meeting on the establishment of a high-level government committee to monitor the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Concluding Observations in South Sudan at the Palm Africa Hotel.
The meeting was attended by 35 participants from government line ministries of gender, child, and social welfare, the ministry of education, the ministry of health, the ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation, parliamentarians, the ministry of defence and veteran affairs, the ministry of justice, the ministry of labour, the ministry of interior, the ministry of interior, the Human Rights Commission, and the National DDR Commission.
During the meeting, the Child Rights Civil Society Coalition presented the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child concluding observations on the initial report of South Sudan alongside terms of reference for the South Sudan Government High-Level Committee by Save the Children International in order to understand the scope of the government committee mandate.
As a result, the High-Level Government Committee to Monitor the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Concluding Observations in South Sudan was established according to the attached resolutions.
Forum on child rights issues in South Sudan
The Child Rights Civil Society Coalition, with support from Save the Children, hosted an annual forum on child rights issues in South Sudan aimed at strengthening evidence-based advocacy and understanding of UNCRC clusters.
The forum, which brought together civil society representatives from CRC member organisations, focused on identifying current child rights issues and proposing solutions based on the cluster, which included civil rights, freedoms, violence against children, family environment, alternative care, disability, basic health & welfare, education, leisure, and cultural activities, as well as special protection measures.
CSOs’ position paper on Article 15 of the transitional constitution of South Sudan, 2011 (as amended) and on customary practice of child-marriage
The Members of the Child Rights Civil Society Coalition submitted a position paper to the Supreme Court this morning concerning Article 15 of the Republic of South Sudan’s Transitional Constitution 2011 (As Amended) which does not have a clear definition of a marriageable age and the customary practice of child marriage.
The paper, which was handed over to the Hon. Chief Justice in his office for his decision contains detailed justified argument to define marriageable age in the constitution and the penal code of 2008. The issue at hand is also consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and South Sudan’s Transitional Constitution, which guarantee children their right to survival, development, and protection from discrimination and harmful cultural practices. The South Sudan Child Act of 2008 additionally sets out rights, duties, and state obligations towards children.
In response, Hon. Chan Reec Madut commended the CSOs for bringing the matter to his attention and urged other institutions, such as the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare, to do the same. This initiative was supported by Save the Children.
