South Sudan women leaders’ conference calls for federalism

JUBA, NOV. 2, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan women leaders have called on the transitional government to adopt federalism as the governance system in the world’s youngest country and to expedite the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

The leaders made the call in a communiqué following the 3^rd Annual National Conference on Women, Peace, and Security, held in Juba from October 25 to October 26 under the theme, “Building Inclusive Democracy: Women’s Leadership and Political Participation.”

In the communiqué, the women leaders called for the reconstitution of the Political Parties Council, the National Constitutional Review Commission, and the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing “in order to expedite the implementation of the roadmap towards an inclusive and democratic South Sudan and ensure women are included in all these bodies.”

They also called on the transitional government to “adopt a cooperative federalism system of governance which entails the equitable sharing of resources and political power across national, state, and county levels, with emphasis on the importance of conducting extensive awareness campaigns and civic education to ensure that citizens understand and embrace the federal system of government.”

“Such efforts are intended to facilitate increased political participation for all segments of the population, with a specific focus on promoting inclusive engagement of women in the political sphere,” the women leaders’ communiqué stated.

On the implementation of the security arrangements, the women called on the transitional government to expedite the process and pay salaries to the members of the unified forces, saying that this would reduce insecurity in South Sudan.

“Expedite the implementation of the transitional security arrangement, specifically the deployment of the unified forces and payment of their monthly salaries to tackle insecurity issues that may affect the people, particularly women and people with disability, and to create a safe and secure environment for elections,” they said.

They also called on the government to “establish a specific fund to support women during the general elections to cover civic education, monitoring of elections, and establish a situation room to monitor GBV related to elections and mechanisms to swiftly respond to such incidents.”

South Sudan is expected to go for its first elections in December 2024. The women said that there is a need to “intensify civic education for women on the importance of joining political participation, register as voters, and ensure women vote during the general elections.”

They said that the Ministry of Interior is required by law to facilitate and provide avenues for women at national and grassroots levels to acquire national IDs, which they said will be an important requirement during the elections.