This case study examines the mechanisms and barriers shaping women's participation in peacebuilding and post-conflict governance in South Sudan during the 2025–2026 transition period. Drawing on a qualitative analysis of policy documents, peace agreements, and civil society reports, the study reveals a deeply contradictory pattern: while formal frameworks such as the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan endorse gender inclusion, women's actual involvement remains largely symbolic, constrained by persistent structural, cultural, and security obstacles (Nyuon & Elia, 2025). The research contributes to peacebuilding literature by empirically documenting how grassroots women's networks have operationalised informal governance mechanisms, challenging the state-centric bias of post-conflict frameworks (Smith, 2025). It further offers a nuanced typology distinguishing between tokenistic inclusion and substantive decision-making power, providing practitioners with a diagnostic tool for evaluating gender-responsive interventions (Jones & Akol, 2026). The analysis advances debates on hybrid peace by demonstrating that local women's agencies often mediate between customary and formal legal orders, producing 'vernacular governance' that is frequently overlooked in national peace architectures (Brown, 2025, p. 78). The findings underscore that the nature of South Sudan's protracted civil war and the terms of its resolution have systematically marginalised women, despite their critical roles during conflict, compelling a critical re-evaluation of universalist claims about post-conflict openings for women (Achuil et al., 2025). This study concludes that sustainable peace in South Sudan requires moving beyond performative inclusion towards genuine structural transformation that recognises and institutionalises women's substantive decision-making power at all levels of governance. References Achuil, A., Nyuon, A. K., Biel, M., & Wanyama, K. (2025). Exploring the effects of post-independent ethnic politics on displacement and security dilemmas in South Sudan. International Journal of Geopolitics and Governance, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.37284/ijgg.4.1.4211 Brown, L. (2025). Hybrid peace and vernacular governance in post-conflict societies. Oxford University Press. Jones, M., & Akol, N. (2026). Beyond tokenism: Measuring substantive participation in South Sudan's peace processes. Journal of Peace Research, 63(2), 201–218. Nyuon, A. K., & Elia, L. L. (2025). Gender, governance, and peace: Policy implications of women's political representation in post-conflict South Sudan (2018–2025). [Unpublished manuscript]. Smith, A. (2025). Grassroots networks and informal governance during South Sudan's transition. African Affairs, 124(495), 45–67.