The First Lady of the Republic of South Sudan, has been working tirelessly to advocate for gender equality in all spears of the government and nongovernment organizations throughout the country. The gender issues underpinning gender equality in South Sudan are lack of equality between men and women; marginalization of women by men; lack of knowledge of women rights; cultural constraints; lack of quality education for women; lack of awareness about leadership; lack of confidence and early or force marriage, among others.
Her Excellency advocated through her gender reforms advocacy portfolio and work with her organization to ensure that the government
adopts and implements the 35% affirmative action agreed upon in the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan
(R-ARCSS). Stressing that “the inequalities between women and men will continue, unless women are empowered to take on leadership roles throughout the country, as well as, the girl child is given an opportunity to access education and stay in school”.
The injustices facing young girls within our community is done to them mainly culturally, and can only be reduced through training of local
leaders like chiefs by providing more awareness on the importance of gender equality at all levels of nation building. Her organization continues to raise awareness in schools on the importance of education and issues related to Gender Based Violence (GBV); alongside conducting ongoing trainings on gender equality and gender equity, while targeting people with disabilities and women. Her Excellency also advocates for gender equity in the provision of higher education by providing females scholarships to attend higher education opportunities as females have a lower enrollment rate compared to their male counterparts.
