The evidence presented in this paper is based on a portfolio review of 24 World Bank projects and an examination of results stemming from 16 impact evaluations conducted in fragile and conflict–affected countries or comparable low–income settings. Fourteen of the projects included in the portfolio review were implemented in South Sudan whereas the remaining 10 were in similar fragile and conflict–affected countries. Of the 16 impact evaluations that are covered, 11 were financed by, or involved, World Bank teams. The outcomes reviewed are mainly organized according to the four pillars of the World Bank Group’s Gender Strategy (World Bank, 2015). Specifically, these outcomes relate to: (1) improving human endowments—education, health; (2) removing constraints for more and better jobs—employment, entrepreneurship, wages; (3) removing barriers to women’s ownership and control physical and financial assets; and (4) enhancing voice and agency of traditionally disempowered groups, namely women, children, and youth. This paper is organized in seven sections, including this introduction. Section 2 presents the methodology. Section 3 describes poverty and vulnerability in South Sudan. Section 4 discusses the status of gender equality in the country. Section 5 presents a brief description of the integration of gender equality in social protection and poverty–reduction programs in South Sudan. Section 6 presents the findings of the impact evaluation and portfolio reviews and provides recommendations to address gender gaps and vulnerabilities in countries facing similar challenges. Section 7 concludes the paper. 2. Methodology The recommendations presented in this paper are primarily based on a review of the World Bank portfolio in South Sudan and an analysis of impact evaluation evidence. The portfolio review analyzes the integration of gender equality in World Bank projects, i whereas the review of evidence from impact evaluations focuses on interventions in fragile and conflict–affected or comparable low–income countries. ii The initial focus of the portfolio review was social protection programs in South Sudan but, given the small size of the portfolio and interest in the topic from other teams, it was expanded to include operations in health, agriculture, transport, and rural and urban infrastructure. Fourteen of the 24 projects analyzed were implemented in South Sudan and the remaining 10 in similar fragile situations. The latter were identified based on concrete actions taken by the project to promote gender equality or women empowerment or based on the inclusion of indicators focused on female beneficiaries. The World Bank–funded projects in South Sudan were approved between fiscal years (FY) 2008 and 2019 (Table 1) and cover various sectors: agriculture, social protection and jobs, health, transport, and social, development. Nine of the 14 projects included activities focused on improving access to economic opportunities for the poor and vulnerable. The development objectives of these projects include the
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