Women Empowerment for Development Organization (WEDO) is a national, women-led, and community-driven NGO based in South Sudan
A peaceful, prosperous South Sudan where women, girls, and persons with disabilities are healthy, educated, economically empowered, and actively shaping their own futures as leaders and change-makers.
Health and Nutrition
WEDO’s Health & Nutrition programs are comprehensive, offering support to Primary Healthcare Units and providing mobile outreach to remote communities. Key initiatives include maternal and reproductive health education, mental health support for GBV survivors, community-based acute malnutrition management, and promotion of infant and young child feeding. A critical focus is ensuring accessible and barrier-free healthcare for persons with disabilities.
WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)
WASH interventions focus on providing clean and safe drinking water, constructing and rehabilitating sanitation facilities, and promoting essential hygiene practices like handwashing and safe water storage. These efforts are often supported by the distribution of hygiene kits and supplies and community awareness campaigns to prevent waterborne diseases.
Education and Skills Development
Our education and skills development initiatives include Accelerated Learning Programs (ALPs) for girls, young mothers, and children affected by conflict, alongside providing school materials and sanitary kits, and conducting menstrual health awareness campaigns. We also establish vocational training centers to equip women, youth, and persons with disabilities with valuable livelihood skills, while simultaneously sensitizing communities on the importance of inclusive education for all.
Food Security, Agriculture and Livelihoods
Our initiatives in food security, agriculture, and livelihoods focus on distributing agricultural tools, drought-resilient seeds, and farming inputs to women-led households, alongside training on climate-smart agriculture, kitchen gardening, and food preservation. We also facilitate Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) to economically empower women and youth, support income-generating activities (IGAs) for marginalized groups, and promote sustainable livelihoods for returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and host communities.
Protection and Gender-Based Violence Response
Our Protection and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Response efforts include providing psychosocial support and case management services for GBV survivors, and operating safe spaces that offer social support and life skills training for women, girls, and other vulnerable individuals. We also conduct legal literacy and rights awareness programs, with a focus on women’s land rights, inheritance, and civic participation, and advocate against harmful traditional practices like early and forced marriage and sexual exploitation. Additionally, we work to establish inclusive protection mechanisms that integrate persons with disabilities into community safety networks.
Peacebuilding, Social Cohesion and Humanitarian Response
Our peace-building and social cohesion efforts involve community dialogue forums to foster peaceful coexistence among returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and host communities. We engage women and youth as local peace agents and ensure a conflict-sensitive humanitarian response during emergencies like floods and droughts, with a special focus on marginalized groups. Furthermore, we collaborate with protection clusters and coordination platforms to align with South Sudan’s Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).
Founded in 2018 by South Sudanese women leaders, WEDO has grown from a grassroots CBO into a respected national organization.
Vision and Mission
Vision: A peaceful, prosperous South Sudan where women, girls, and persons with disabilities are healthy, educated, economically empowered, and actively shaping their own futures as leaders and change-makers.
Mission: To empower women, girls, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable communities by fostering peace, advancing health, expanding education, and promoting sustainable livelihoods through grassroots leadership and advocacy.
