Scale-up Availability of Life-saving Reproductive Health Kits and Gender Based Violence Commodities to Respond to the increased needs of the most vulnerable populations including women and girls affected by increased violence and food insecurity in Prioritized Counties of Canal/Pigi, Tambura, Ezo, Nagero and Leer of South Sudan. The country has some of the worst health statistics in the world. The maternal mortality ratio is estimated at 1050 per 100,000 live births (UNFPA, UNICEF, World Bank Group, UN estimates, 2017). The majority of women (89%) deliver their babies at home. Amidst the critical shortage of health workforce, skilled birth attendance stands at a low 14.7%. There is limited access to health services, including reproductive, maternal and adolescent health care, including serious shortages of Reproductive Health supplies. Gender-based violence remains a threat to crisis affected population especially for women and girls exposed to risks when conducting their routine activities. Feeling unsafe, women and girls avoid areas such as water points, latrines, markets, and firewood collection sites.

This is a complementary core-pipeline project to support the scaling up of immediate response to address effects of increased violence and food insecurity in the priority counties in South Sudan. The project aims to support static health facilities and mobile  (outreach) health services, including Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) service and expanding health services in the priority counties, support PHCCs with RH Kits in Western Equatoria State (Nagero, Ezo and Tambura counties) and Jonglei State (Canal/Pigi) affected by increased violence and food insecurity. The Gender -based Violence (GBV) response part of this project will complement ongoing UNFPA GBV in Leer County.The Mobile teams will schedule routine visits to these areas to ensure that even those furthest can be reached with health services, including Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) service and expanding health services in the priority counties, support Health facilities with RH Kits in Western Equatoria State (Nagero, Ezo and Tambura counties) and Jonglei State 

The primary objective of the project is to scale-up availability of Life-saving Reproductive Health and Gender Based Violence Commodities to Response to the increased needs of the most vulnerable populations including women and girls affected by increased violence and food insecurity in the five prioritized Counties. The main activities for this integrated SRH and GBV project include among others the following: Procure and distribute 184 inter-agency emergency reproductive health kits to various facilities Procure and distribute 3,700 dignity kits to vulnerable women and girls Conduct at least 10 supervision and monitoring visits to affected locations (five counties) and Conduct regular updates at the health cluster of the number of partners supported by RH Kits. Through this SSHF project, UNFPA will procure, preposition, distribute and monitor the rational use of emergency reproductive health kits and dignity kits including Post Rape Kits and equipment to SRH partners operating in functional static and mobile clinics in the affected priority areas with no access to static health facilities. 

While the Protection (GBV) sub cluster will target 3,700, among whom 2,200 are women and 1,500 are girls and also a total of 800 persons with disabilities (women and girls) will benefit from the dignity kits in Leer County.
The project will be implemented in five (5) prioritized counties of Canal/Pigi, Tambura, Ezo, Nagero and Leer of S