Girls' Education South Sudan Phase 2 (GESS2) Flickors utbildning i Sydsudan fas 2 (GESS2) "Girls' Education South Sudan, Phase 2" (GESS2) is a five year program running from May 2019 to March 2024. Sida supports the final year of the program, April 2023-March 2024, with 18 MSEK. GESS2 is implemented in all ten states and three administrative areas of South Sudan, reaching around 4,000 not-for-profit, government, faith-based and community schools across the country. The total number of students paid under GESS2 until now is approximately one million girls. This is the second phase of the Girls Education South Sudan (GESS) program with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as the Lead Donor and agreement partner. The program is also supported by Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the United State Agency for International Development (USAID) and the EU Delegation. The aim of GESS2 is to contribute to transforming life changes through education for South Sudanese children (particularly but not exclusively girls). The program provides a range of interventions - direct financial support to girls in form of cash transfers to support retention and completion; provision of capitation grants for flexible use by schools to support infrastructure, learning materials and access for children with disabilities; initiatives designed to improve the quality of education; research; support to girls through mentoring and learning groups; and large scale behavioral change interventions specific to the importance of girls' education. GESS2 has also included support to strengthen Public Financial Management in the Ministry of General Education and Instruction and the Ministry of Finance and Planning. In summary, The situation in the education sector in South Sudan clearly shows the importance of continued coordinated support from donors with a particular focus on the most vulnerable girls and boys in the country. By strengthening the capacity among students, teachers, schools, ministries at both state and national level through GESS2, a more sustainable education system is created. "Girls' Education South Sudan, Phase 2" (GESS2) är ett femårigt program som pågår från maj 2019 till mars 2024. Sida stödjer programmets sista år, april 2023-mars 2024, med 18 MSEK. GESS2 implementeras i alla tio stater och tre administrativa områden i Sydsudan och når cirka 4 000 statliga, trosbaserade och kommunala skolor över hela landet. Det totala antalet elever som erhåller stöd genom GESS2 fram till nu är cirka en miljon flickor. Detta är den andra fasen av programmet Girls Education South Sudan (GESS) med Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) som huvudgivare och avtalspartner. Programmet stöds även av Global Affairs Canada (GAC), United Statens Agency for International Development (USAID) och EU-delegationen. Målet med GESS2 är att bidra till att en förbättring av livsvillkor för sydsudanesiska barn och unga (särskilt men inte enbart flickor) genom utbildning. Programmet innehåller en rad olika komponenter – kontantöverföringar som betalas ut till flickor, s.k. capitation grants till skolor, initiativ för att förbättra kvaliteten på utbildning, forskning och studier, stöd till flickor genom mentorskap och lärandegrupper, samt storskaliga satsningar för att förändra beteenden kopplade till flickors utbildning. GESS2 har också inkluderat stöd för att stärka den offentliga ekonomiska förvaltningen i utbildningsministeriet samt finans- och planeringsministeriet. Situationen inom utbildningssektorn i Sydsudan visar tydligt på vikten av ett fortsatt koordinerat stöd från givare, med ett särskilt fokus på de mest utsatta flickorna och pojkarna i landet. Genom att stärka elevers, lärares, skolors och ministeriernas kapacitet på både nationell och statlig nivå genom GESS2, kommer ett mer hållbart utbildningssystem att skapas. The aim with this intervention is to contribute to an increased number of South Sudanese children (particularly but not exclusively girls) whose life chances are transformed through education (impact). The outcomes of the program is an improvement in girls' educational attainment from that already achieved in GESS1; building further gains on school enrollment, reducing barriers to education and promoting equity in access for all children.

The outputs of the program are as follows:
Output 1: Communication to girls, boys, women and men to shift attitudes and behavior related to the education of girls and children with disabilities.
Output 2: Cash transfers to girls to improve enrollment, retention, transition and completion rates.
Output 3: Capitation Grants to schools to improve learning environment for all learners.
Output 3B: Strengthened Public Financial Management systems in the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI) and improved policy formulation and implementation.
Output 4: Quality of Education, Learning Groups & Resilience to contribute to improving learning outcomes.
Output 5: Building a knowledge base for support to girls' education.