Civil administrators in Abyei concluded three days of training on the contents of the revitalized peace agreement on Friday last week.
Jane Kiden Jackson, the national director of gender and the main facilitator said the workshop aimed to disseminate the Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) to the public administrators.
"The purpose of training is to disseminate the R-ARCSS to civil administrators in Abyei and for us as the ministry of gender; our mandate is to ensure that gender equality is adhered to at any levels of the government as stipulated in the Revitalized Agreement,” Kiden said. "Civil servants are not aware of this provision, that is why we have conducted the workshop to enlighten the needs to implement the R-ARCSS like the gender presentation in ten states is improving but for Abyei, we have only one minister maybe others are not aware of the provision of 35 percent of women," she said.
Nyankiir Chol Piok, a participant who benefited from training, said the right of women is granted in the agreement though it is not implemented in all sectors in Abyei.
"The most important thing is the gender right of 35 percent though it is not much implemented in Abyei, we have learned how to lobby for it in any political position from the state up to county levels. Even in administrative positions, women are not considered in Abyei like I am the Director of Gender in the Ministry of Education but this is not through 35%, I reached there through promotion as an employee in the Ministry. What we want is gender presentation in Ministries, Advisories, and in the Independent Commissions," she said.
Abyei's Paramount Chief Bulabek Deng Kuol said the training clarifies the role of the community in supporting the implementation of the peace deal.
He said it is important for the community to be empowered so that they can vote wisely when elections come.
"Our role as chiefs is to make the community aware of peace so that they support it. This is important. Citizens should be aware of the peace documents and if politicians campaign for positions, they should know which party does he or she belong to and what effective agenda they have so that the voter can vote wisely," he said.
In her closing remarks, Abyei Minister of Gender, Child and Social Development Nyanwut Kuol acknowledged a slight improvement in terms of women's participation in governance in Abyei.
"The workshop ended successfully with active participation, we thank God for that. 35 percent as affirmative action, we feel as women that it is not implemented like I am the only Minister in the Abyei cabinet and one advisor but it's much better compared to the last four years when there were no women in government. We are not also like ten states, we as Administrative Area our Ministries are limited to six but our chief Administrator will consider 35% in next formation of parliament," Minister Nyanwut said.
The training which started last Wednesday drew about 60 participants from public institutions in the Abyei Administrative Area and was organized by the National Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Development with support from UNDP.