Abstract
This paper explores the role of educational exclusion in shaping women’s marginalization from formal peace processes such as signed peace agreements and more in South Sudan. Framed within a liberal feminist analytical lens, it offers an interpretive reflection informed by qualitative interviews conducted in 2013 and situated within a broader review of recent literature. The analysis identifies three interlocking domains through which exclusion operates: first, the persistent devaluation of Women’s Bottom-up grassroots peace building efforts in contrast to their continued exclusion from Top-down formal peace processes; second, the systemic under investment in girls’ and women’s education as a mechanism of political disenfranchisement; and third, the structural effects of entrenched patriarchy and household-level gender norms that restrict women’s access to education and public life. The paper argues that education functions both as a site of empowerment and as a vehicle of exclusion, reinforcing gender hierarchies within post-conflict governance architectures. It concludes that sustainable peace in South Sudan requires a fundamental reorientation of peace building policy - one that centers on inclusive education and gender-responsive institutional design as core components of democratic transformation and long-term stability.