The South Sudan Women Intellectuals Forum has expressed concern over the reduction in the number of women in the national unity government and is calling on the government to respect the 35 percent quota allocated to women by the peace agreement.
According to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement, women were allotted 35 percent representation at all levels of government through affirmative action, however, this percentage has been violated by most parties including the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in Government (SPLM-IG).
In a statement seen by Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, the women said they have observed that the number of women is reducing especially in terms of appointments and replacement of officials.
“The South Sudanese Women Intellectuals Forum would like to raise our concern regarding the observation we have been following on the appointment and replacement of government officials through the various decrees” the statement read in part. “We are deeply concerned that in the appointments, most of the women who have been relieved from their positions are replaced by men. For example, in 2022, the foreign minister was relieved and replaced by a man.”
The group also pointed out the recent changes in the health ministry where the former undersecretary, Victoria Anib, was sacked and replaced by a male.
“The same trend of relieving women and replacing them with males has been happening at the national and state levels and other government institutions as well,” the statement said.
Responding to the issue, Dorothy Drabuga, the executive director of the Women Foundation for Humanity Organization, described the phenomena as a lack of respect for the peace agreement by the signatories.
“The Government of South Sudan is not respecting the 35 percent affirmative action and also they are violating the revitalized peace agreement which stipulates that women have been given the 35 percent,” she charged. “Some dismissals are going on, ministers are removed, especially women ministers, and replaced by men. So, it means the government is not valuing and respecting the provisions of the revitalized agreement and also the 35 percent affirmative action.”
“If the government wants to remove anybody, especially a woman, they must be replaced by fellow women, not by men,” Drabuga added.
Meanwhile, Sunday Mogga, a member of The Grassroots Network, a women-led organization, also confirmed the violation of women’s rights by infringing on their affirmative action quota.
“I would say this is a total violation and we need to check with the parties to see what their problem exactly is,” she said.
For his part, Ter Manyang, the chairperson of the Civil Society Coalition, said that the majority of the leaders in the parties to the agreement do not understand the implications of violating women’s rights.
“I think our leaders tend to undermine women in the country because if a woman is relieved, they are supposed to be replaced with another woman for women not to protest,” he said.
Manyang warned that such violations will affect the implementation of the peace agreement, especially chapter one which t deals with governance and requires the participation of both men and women.