Rukaya Mohammed, deputy Country Representative at the UN Women speaking during the first episode of “Shai with the European Union, on 20th Oct 2022. | Photo Credit: Lou Nelson/Eye Radio)

The European Union and UN Women have emphasized on the empowerment of women to enable them to gain political and economic leverage in society.

Rukaya Mohammed, Deputy Country Representative at the UN Women said she believes that women should be empowered to change from traditional trade into the modern method of income-generating activities.

“We need women to move out of maybe traditional trade like tailoring, and hairdressing into the mechanic, building, and construction,” she said on the eve of the 22^nd anniversary of UN resolution 1325 on Women in peace and security.

“So, we need to also do a lot of investment in skills training of women in the non-traditional area so that we economically empower them.”

“If a woman is economically empowered, then she will even have the political leverage or she can work out of the abusive relationship because sometimes they stay in that relationship because of vulnerability or lack of resources.”

UN resolution 1325 specifically seeks to address the disproportionate impact of violent conflict and war on women and girls.

It also recognizes the critical role that women play in peace-building efforts in society.

“Resolution 1325 affirms that peace and security efforts are more sustainable when women are equal partners in the prevention of violent conflict, the delivery of relief and recovery efforts and in the forging of lasting peace,” quotes the resolution.

The World Bank noted that women in South Sudan face extraordinary challenges, with rates of sexual and gender-based violence among the highest in the world.

Opportunities for education and vocational training are scarce, and laws and patriarchal norms limit women’s ability to inherit land, start a business, and lead in public affairs, says the Bank.

However, Rukaya Mohammed said there is a need to engage men in women’s empowerment.

“We really have to recognize the role of women as actors and as leaders and the second one is to engage men, male engagement we can’t do it alone,” said the UN official.

“So we have to engage men as allies because it is like a space that has been dominated by men and now we want men to also share those spaces so we have to really engage them.”

“They should be part of the discussion to understand why when you work with two hands you make better progress than when you try to work with one hand.”

Meanwhile, Dionyz Hochel, Head of the Political Section at the Delegation of the EU to South Sudan says they are planning to support activities at mainly empower women as of next year.

“There is a lot of work from the EU to do mainstreaming of the gender issues and implanting the resolution [1325] and from the South Sudan point of view, 80% of our EU action in South Sudan will be aimed to empower women,” said Hochel.