Three winners of SIHA human rights defender awards. (Photo: Courtesy).

WAU, WBGs, (Eye Radio) – The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network, a regional advocacy organization, has recognized three women in South Sudan with awards for being outstanding human rights defenders in the country.

The winners include Juleta Lino Alberto, a young woman who has been a consistent advocate for women rights in Wau through media platforms like radio. She has been deeply committed to women’s agenda, representing women at the state, national and regional level.

According to SIHA statement, Juleta also remains a leading woman contributor to women advocacy at Wau Civic Engagement Center where she works to design impactful programs and raise critical issues affecting women and young girls.

“Am so happy and horned about this award being recognized as one of women human rights defender at the grassroot level,” said Juleta while receiving the award. She added that the award appeared to be her turning point to continue inspiring and archiving gender equality.

The organization said she is an unwavering grassroot involvement especially as a youth leader is inspiring a new generation of gender equality advocate in South Sudan.

Another winner of the SIHA award is Adau Ritual, from Jonglei State, who is a visionary founder and executive director for Women Empowerment Centre South Sudan.

Through her leadership, Adau has managed to mobilize and support eight excluded women’s group totaling 240 members focusing on awareness raising in GBV, human rights and women’s empowerment, an initiative reaching 8,000 people.

“Today’s award mean that women need stand up and support other our fellow women. We continue doing our work to those who are marginalized, venerable, excluded in decision making and those who are suffering through economic crisis,” said Adau.

In 2019, Adau led a bold march under the Crown of Women Voice and leadership campaign to Jonglei governor’s office successfully advocating for increase of women representative in the state leadership.

Her regular lobby positively led to the historic inclusion of two female chiefs in bench courts, one female traditional chief and one woman a civil administrator at payam level and current, Jonglei has three female ministers,” the statement noted.

The final winner is Mona Musa Mayang from Wau, a trailblazing human rights defender and legal expert serving as a commissioner of oaths in Wau and also a member of the central committee of the South Sudan Bar Association. Mona said the award stands to boost her work.

In one of South Sudan’s most fragile and militarized regions, Ms. Mona provides legal aid to females survivors of violence many of whom are married to security personnel placing both the survivors and their defenders at high personal risk.

Mona founder Alliance for Lawyers, a grassroots organization committed to promote access to justice for women and girls. Her works goes beyond the courtroom; she actively speaks out to encourage women’s participation in leadership.

Mona successfully prosecuted a welcomed GBV case involving a 14-year-old rape victim resulting in a 10-year jail term to the offender.

Some years back, Mona presented a five-year-old rape victim in Aweil with a perpetrator executed in 2023. This year, she provided free legal aid to 30 females and were freed from the jail.

On behalf of SIHA Network, Viviana Joshep Awad the project officer in Wau said the awards were kinds of SIHA horning to appreciate these women in addressing GBV in the Country.

“We are very grateful and thankful today that we are celebrating the achievements of women human rights defenders in Wau Western Bahr el Ghazal state,” said Awad.

“As SIHA Network, we congratulate them in addressing the GBV that is affecting women and girls in South Sudan in defending the rights, they are have contributed a lot in supporting the survivors in accessing the justice and also in the leadership positions,” she said.

The three recognized young women were among the 30^th candidates that applied for the wards to SIHA Network this year.

SIHA calls itself an an indigenous African women’s rights network borne of the social justice movement, and established by women activists from Somaliland, Ethiopia, and Sudan in the mid-1990s.

The organization says it currently works in a variety of cultural, political, and geographical environments in Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan and South Sudan.