EU - Giving girls the opportunity to imagine a brighter future through education
The European Union's (EU) ten years of engagement in promoting girls' education in South Sudan has significantly increased enrollment in primary and secondary schools, thanks to an innovative approach involving community dialogue and cash transfers.
The Girls Education South Sudan (GESS) initiative, a collaboration between the EU, Canada, Sweden, Norway, the UK and the US, began in 2014 with the aim of increasing girls' enrollment and attendance in primary school, as well as supporting them in transitioning to secondary education. In 2014, there were just over 350,000 girls enrolled in primary schools nationwide. Ten years later, this figure had grown to over 950,000. Today, girls are enrolling in primary school at almost the same rate as boys, with more than 90,000 enrolling in secondary school in 2024 compared to fewer than 20,000 in 2014.