Juba, 8 March 2014 - As we commemorate International Women's Day, 8 March, the women and girls of South Sudan need to be at the centre of our attention. The crisis that has engulfed large parts of the country is hitting women and children the hardest.

7 March 2014 - South Sudan’s independence would never have been won without the efforts and power of the country’s women, the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) said in Juba today.

As Mary Jeshi and her family fled violence and sought shelter at an UNMISS base in Juba in mid-December, it seemed inevitable to her that life as she knew it would change. She just had no idea how much.