South Sudan: Thursday, February 16th, 2023 – The First Vice President, Dr Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, has called on South Sudanese Women to unite and form a strong nonpartisan Women Union that would advocate for the rights of women in the Country.
Dr Machar was addressing the closing session of the inaugural three-day International Women’s Conference on Transformational Leadership that drew over 400 participants from fifteen Countries, including four former African female Presidents (two attended in person and two via Zoom) in Juba on Wednesday.
The First Vice President appealed to women at the conference to utilise the relative peace in the Country to make gains toward addressing issues affecting women in the Country.
Dr Machar also urged South Sudanese women to support girl child education, noting that illiteracy is one of the major reasons that has led to the marginalisation of women in South Sudan.
Dr Riek further urged South Sudanese women to be proactive and fight for their place on the table where decisions are made, reiterating the government’s commitment to adhere to the thirty-five affirmative action as well as addressing other issues affecting women in the Country.
The inaugural International Women’s Conference on Transformational Leadership hosted by H.E. Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, the Vice President and the Chair of the Gender, Humanitarian, Youth and Sports Cluster in partnership with UNDP and Supported by Norway and Sweden resolved to take actions and strategies that would strengthen women’s participation and Leadership in decision making and peacebuilding; safeguard and deepen gains made; engage with young women to bride the generational gap, promote inclusion of all women including the rural women and girls in climate adaptation strategies and policy formulation among others.
The conference further expanded the participant’s network for shared learning Nationally, Regionally and internationally to build stronger Women’s movements for transformative change in a digital age.