By Hou Akot Hou
Northern Bahr El Ghazal State female activists have renewed their commitment to fully take part in elections and other administrative positions in accordance with the peace accords.
These commitments were expressed during a two-day workshop held in Aweil Town this week.
The two-day workshop was organized by a national organization known as the Centre for Inclusive Governance, Peace, and Justice Organization.
The participants were drawn from civil society groups and parliamentarians, and they were taken through Chapter 5 of the peace agreement, which talks about transitional justice, reconciliation, and Healing.
One of the trainees, Hon. Wek Chuei Lang, the chairperson of the assembly specialized committee for labor, said they learned a lot about the involvement of women in governance.
“Women have a great role to play in the government,” she said. “They can do what the men do as well.”
“They give birth to offspring, and they take care of them till they grow up to become adults who serve the nations. So, they have to be included in governance,” he added.
Chuei stated that since women are given their percentage, they can’t be sidelined in government, and they have a role to play in governance as their voices matter a lot.
On her part, Elizabeth Nyanut, the project manager for the Centre for Peace Inclusive Governance, Peace, and Justice Organization, said the aim of the workshop was to empower the women and activists on Chapter 5.
“There are other articles that are not implemented yet. So, we are alerting them so that there are gaps, and we need to know these chapters that are not done yet,” she said.
Nyanut appealed to the women to be participatory, never to shy away from mentioning the loopholes, fighting for their rights, and even showing up to be elected to political positions.
“So, we brought lawmakers and activists to know that these women are lagged behind, and we push them to get involved in the government and never shy away,” she continued.
The peace agreement is being criticized a lot by critics and analysts for being neglected as some chapters, including security arrangements, the election commission, the constitution, and transitional justice, among others, remain to be implemented.