The newly appointed Warrap State Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, Akoon Madut Tong, has promised to promote gender equality throughout the state.
Speaking during a workshop organized by United Nations Missions in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Kuajok town to raise awareness about the participation of women in decision making, Minister Tong admitted the infringement on the rights of women in the country and said he will ensure that women rights are respected.
“It is good to come and share some points with you at least to make sure that we are going to work together about gender, the right of everyone especially the women because we South Sudanese don’t respect the rights of women. We men as we know ourselves, want to take everything (for ourselves). As minister of gender, I will take all the responsibility for the rights of women,” Tong said.
Meanwhile, the head of the UNMISS field office in Warrap State, Natasia Nyargira, said the forum is meant to raise awareness about the importance of women participation in decision making and the unfulfilled 35 percent women representation in government as per the revitalized peace agreement.
“Today the workshop is a way of raising awareness about women participation, particularly when it comes to representation in decision making, you know that as per the revitalized peace agreement women were expected to have 35 percent representation but unfortunately when we look at the current situation, we did not achieve that percentage,” Nyargira said.
She called on women to demand their 35 percent affirmative action but always select and present qualified candidates to represent them and their interests.
The chairperson of Warrap State Women Union, Awel Akok, described the workshop as inspiring to women and discussed gender-based violence which resulted from social, political and economic marginalization.
“The workshop we did yesterday was on gender and gender-based violence. We discussed things like how women are affected negatively, like their representation in the offices and other ways in which they are marginalized,” Awel said.
The meeting was attended by twenty participants representing women groups, civil society organizations working on gender, youth groups, and police protection units.