Rosemary Okello/AWC
Unless gender issues are in the core of recovery and reconstruction plans, chances are that issues affecting women might be ignored, says UNIFEM.
When the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of Sudan was signed in 2005, the women of the South were eager to take part in the reconstruction process.
But their participation meant that certain policies and laws were to be in place on a gender policy framework. However, thanks to the 25 per cent Affirmative Action, many women were nominated as Members of Parliament and even to the Cabinet.
However, since 2006 after the Oslo Conference where the women spelt out clearly that unless a deliberate effort was made towards areas that affect women, peace would still be a far-fetched dream.
During that time, the South Sudan women together with their counterparts in the North wrote a memorandum in which they demanded that 80 per cent of the total fund to the Multi-Donor Trust Fund — set up by donors — for the reconstruction of Sudan should be used in areas that benefit women directly.
But this has not been the case. While reviewing the impact of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund during the Sudan Consortium meeting in Oslo, Norway in May, 2008, the women were aware that funding of gender issues in a post-conflict environment could not take place unless donors ensured that national laws were targetted the policy of empowering women.
“Whenever a conflict occurs in a country, many interventions are normally formulated to respond to the crisis, namely recovery and reconstruction,” said Meryem Aslan, Regional Director, UNIFEM eastern Africa. She added: “But unless both donors and the government are able to mainstream gender issues within the intervention plan, chances are that issues affecting women might be ignored.”
The women in South Sudan said they acknowledged the important progress that included the constitutional guarantee of equality before the law and recognition in the CPA of women’s equal rights. However, they felt they were still lagging behind on the issue of women’s empowerment.
They singled out lack of women’s capacity in the area of finance and leadership as a key area which they wanted donors to address in their work with the MDTF.
An assistant professor at the Southern Darfur-Nyala University, Dr Awatif Mohammed Adam said: “The MDTF should start a programme where they deliberately build the capacity of women on the issues of financing and proposal writing.” He added: “Women needed to be given technical support so they could be part of decision-making and help design priority areas of financing as far as women’s issues were concerned.”
The Oslo gathering was informed by Ms Betty Ogwaro, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Animal Resources for Eastern Equatoria State that major strategic investments are needed to address these challenges and fulfill needs that were identified within the Joint Assessment Mission on Sudan by the World Bank. Ogwaro, who is also chair of the Southern Sudan Women’s Parliamentarian Forum singled out fast-tracking efforts which must be used to address the most severe aspects of discrimination against women and girls. These she noted would inform the achievement of Millennium Development Goals especially targets related to women’s and girls’ human capital development notably education, maternal mortality and reduction of gender-based violence.
“A strategic reassessment of the JAM findings with regard to women must be specifically undertaken to ensure sufficient resources flow are dedicated to meeting women’s needs in every cluster,” Ogwaro explained. She added: “Gender must be an explicit priority and attention to women’s needs must be mainstreamed throughout the work of all line ministries.”
Ogwaro said that women have the potential to make enormous contribution to peace building, recovery and development, particularly when they are present in numbers sufficient to create critical mass.
The voices of Sudanese women on issues around financing of gender empowerment is critical for re-strategising and re-committing to achieving the MDGs for Southern Sudan.
The women in Sudan form more than half of the population. They need to be more than half of the solution to the huge challenges the country faces like reconstruction. Prioritising girls’ education and reduction of maternal mortality will have immediate development benefits. Investing in women is smart economics. Governments have made a commitment to the full involvement of women in peace building and reconstruction, including agreeing to Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, war and peace.
Prioritising funding for women in post-conflict issues is necessary and as countries discuss the New Aid Modality, the women of South Sudan, who have suffered over two decades of war, are eagerly awaiting the Ghana outcome.
