Fidensia Charles speaks during the commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the Juba Massacre on June 7, 2023. | Photo credit: The City Review Digital

An activist has criticized some South Sudanese cultural practices that deprive widows of the right to inherit assets of their deceased husbands, as the country marks International Widows Day.

Fidensia Charles, an outspoken campaigner for widows rights, had lost her husband in the 1992 Juba Massacre during the reign of ousted Sudanese President, Omar Hassan al Bashir.

Ms. Fendensia – currently the Chairperson of the Widows and Orphans Association in Central Equatoria State – said some communities still use their traditions to take away from widows after the death of their husbands.

“Some of our cultures and traditions are harmful to widows. Like when somebody dies the relatives, brothers and nearest relatives to the deceased will come to take away all the belongings of the late,” she said in an interview with Eye Radio.

Ms. Fendensia describes such practice as harmful and wants them omitted from the society.

“They are saying it is traditions but in actual fact, it is harmful because these widows will be left without anything and then how will she care for the children when the belongings are taken away.”

She adds: “Not only that, even some of the brothers will come and preside over with whatever is left behind like assets.”

The International Widows Day is observed each year on June 23.

It is a United Nations ratified day of action to address the “poverty and injustice faced by millions of widows and their dependents in many countries.

The day seeks to discourage the discrimination that often denies widows their rightful inheritance after the death of their husbands.