UNITY IN DIVERSITY: COALITION BUILDING, COLLECTIVE SECURITY AND WOMEN'S POLITICAL INFLUENCE IN SOUTH SUDAN

Abstract

Background: Coalition and network formation recorded the highest participation rate among the dissertation's economic and coalition-building activities at 89.5% and a success rate of 83.7%. Objective: This article examines coalition building as a source of political influence, organisational resilience and collective security within South Sudan's women's movement. Methods: Drawing on the dissertation's mixed-methods evidence from 314 completed study engagements - 258 structured surveys, 42 key informant interviews and 14 focus group discussions across Juba, Wau and Malakal - the article isolates coalition formation from the broader alliance landscape and analyses how collective organisation converts dispersed activism into political leverage. The inferential analysis further showed that coalition participants reported significantly higher individual political efficacy (M=4.12, SD=0.67) than non-participants (M=3.78, SD=0.84), t(312)=3.234, p=0.001. Results: Civil society and NGO alliances constituted 156 active partnerships and achieved the highest effectiveness rating among major partnership categories at 4.2/5.0. Conclusion: Within this alliance network, women's rights organisations accounted for 67 active partnerships, human rights organisations 34, peace and conflict-resolution groups 28, and development organisations 27.