Women's Leadership, Peace-Building and Education: The South Sudan Higher Education Initiative for Equity and Leadership Development

Session Submission Type: Group Panel

Description of Session

Following years of struggle, South Sudan became an independent nation in 2011. While this marked an important achievement for those who had long suffered under the government of Sudan, political violence has continued to dominate South Sudanese society. Women in South Sudan have faced particularly difficult circumstances as they have been victims of this violence and have also been largely excluded from participation in the male-dominated political realm, due to a lack of education and low status. In an effort to address this issue, USAID and Higher Education for Development (HED) are sponsoring a project, the South Sudan Higher Education Initiative for Equity and Leadership Development (SSHIELD). As the project’s implementing partner, Indiana University has created a program to build a network of women leaders with the skills and knowledge to contribute to peace-building and social cohesion in South Sudan. To that end, fourteen women are currently completing master’s degrees in education with a focus on conflict transformation at Indiana University and will return to South Sudan to take on leadership roles in education. The women participating in this program all have experience in the field of education and they represent the diverse geographic, linguistic and ethnic makeup of the South Sudanese population. In January, 2015 a group of eight education faculty members from South Sudanese universities will come to Indiana University as a part of SSHIELD to engage in professional development activities that will focus on school curriculum and pedagogy for conflict resolution, gender equity, and inter-group reconciliation, research methodology, and subject matter development.
Among the key assumptions guiding this project are that (1) educational institutions play a significant role in creating a peaceful and cohesive society that is supported through curriculum, teacher preparation, policy, and school culture, and (2) that women leaders can make a unique and important contribution to peacebuilding in South Sudan. Therefore, the master’s degree and faculty professional development programs will focus on the following elements:
Curriculum - Program participants will be able to return to South Sudan and participate in the development of school curriculum for conflict resolution and mediation; curriculum that promotes gender equity, intercultural education, and peace-building.
Teacher education – The program will work with visiting faculty from South Sudanese universities and master’s students to build their skills in developing teacher education programs that prepare future teachers for the challenges of creating social cohesion.
Policy - Graduates of the program will be prepared to return to South Sudan and serve in government positions to create and implement policies that promote integration in schools and respect for human rights.
School culture - Through coursework, workshops, school visits, and learning from the experiences of other divided societies, masters’ students will learn to how establish a school culture of peace, and developing South Sudanese civic identity among students while respecting cultural diversity within a pluralistic society.
Research – Masters’ students and visiting university faculty will develop skills in research methodology that will allow them to contribute to a body of new research on the role of schools in creating social cohesion and civic identity.
The purpose of this panel will be to hear from the project participants about the current situation in South Sudan regarding education for girls and women, the need for schools to be sites for peace-building and reconciliation, and the impact of this project and others like it on the development of education in South Sudan.
The panel session will be conducted as follows:
A brief overview of the SSHIELD project by the Indiana University project co-director, Dr. Terrence Mason.
Comments from representatives from USAID and HED about the design of the project and its role in the peace-building in South Sudan.
Presentations by two SSHIELD master’s degree students and one of the visiting faculty that will focus on the current status of education in South Sudan and the role of women in education, the most pressing issues facing education and the role of education in peace-building.
Following the presentations by the panel members, the session will be opened up for questions from the audience.

Sub Unit

• SIG: Africa

Chair

• Terrence Mason, Indiana University

Individual Presentations

• Education and Peace-Building in South Sudan - Akwero Okumu, Indiana University

• Women's Leadership in Education in South Sudan - Joy Yoere, Indiana University

• Education and Peace-Building in South Sudan: A Faculty Perspective - Edward Momo, University of Juba

Discussant

• Nina Papadopoulos, USAID