UNFPA Secures €1.5 Million EU Grant to Expand Lifesaving Health and Protection Services

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has secured €1.5 million (approximately SSP equivalent) in funding from the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) to strengthen lifesaving sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence services for crisis-affected communities across South Sudan.

The funding, which runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, is expected to benefit an estimated 350,000 women, adolescent girls, persons with disabilities, and displaced people facing limited access to essential health and protection services.

According to UNFPA, South Sudan’s prolonged humanitarian crisis—driven by armed conflict, mass displacement, recurring floods, disease outbreaks, and the spillover effects of the conflict in Sudan—has severely disrupted supply chains and reduced the availability of critical reproductive health commodities and gender-based violence response services.

Under the new project, UNFPA and its health and protection partners will supply reproductive health commodities, including Inter-Agency Reproductive Health Kits, and distribute dignity kits to health facilities and gender-based violence service centres in Jonglei, Unity, Upper Nile, and Western Equatoria states.

The programme aims to improve access to integrated, lifesaving sexual and reproductive health services and gender-based violence prevention and response through the Minimum Initial Service Package, targeting women, adolescent girls, and other vulnerable populations in conflict- and climate-affected areas.

“In highly volatile operating environments, the timely prepositioning of Inter-Agency Reproductive Health kits, including post-rape treatment kits, and rapid response to developing emergencies or access disruptions can mean the difference between life and death,” said Innocent Modisaotsile, UNFPA Country Representative ad interim in South Sudan.

He said the European Union’s support will enable UNFPA and its partners to maintain uninterrupted delivery of lifesaving services for women and girls affected by humanitarian crises across the country.

UNFPA expressed appreciation to DG ECHO for the contribution, saying the funding will strengthen humanitarian operations, reduce operational risks, and ensure the continued availability of essential sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence response services throughout the project period.

The agency said all activities under the project will be implemented in line with the principles of Do No Harm, survivor-centred care, protection, and safeguarding, with particular attention to adolescent girls, pregnant women, displaced women and girls, persons with disabilities, and frontline humanitarian workers.