Pibor Administrative Area. (Photo: Courtesy).

Women in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area have called for equal opportunity and freedom to enable their full participation in the society.

They made the plea on the International Women’s Day on Tuesday.

In Pibor, the day brought together women groups, their administrators and traditional leaders -as well as representatives of aid partners such as DT-global and the Non-Violence Peace Force organizations, among others.

Speaking during the event, the women expressed their delight about the day, but also shared challenges facing them.

According to them, gender-based discrimination and early child marriage are among the issues affecting their lives and participation in their community.

They recommend that more boarding schools for girls be built to minimize the issue of early child marriage and that women guaranteed freedom to take part in affairs of the area.

“It is very important to empower women because we are also very important in the community. We are peaceful and we have the power to build communities so we should have the opportunity to do everything and we should not be discriminated against based on our gender,” said Angelina from the greater Pibor administrative area.

“We as women in greater Pibor need a lot of things, among which is girls’ education and freedom for the woman too,” said Victoria Simon.

“Here in Pibor, girls are married off at a very young age, that is why we want freedom and we want schools to be opened for girls.

“We want a boarding school so that the girls will be able to study because the Day school is not enough and will not help the girls finish their education. We need girls boarding hostels to encourage them to complete their education,” she said.

“If you come to Pibor today, you will feel that there is a real celebration of the woman. We will take the celebration to areas where people do not know the value of a woman so that we can celebrate together as we are doing today,” said a member of the women rights group, Pamela Ajak.

“All categories and age mates of Murle people and mothers who came from various villages we are here together celebrate this great occasion of the International Women’s Day.

“We are sending our greetings to all mothers celebrating today including those who are not celebrating in all villages, states and other regions,” she concluded.

This year’s International Women’s Day was observed under the theme: “Break the bias, imagine a gender-equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.”