Hon. Adut Salva Kiir speaks at a Thanksgiving celebration in her honor for her appointment as Senior Presidential Envoy on Special Programs. (Courtesy)

The Presidential Envoy, Adut Salva Kiir has praised women as the backbone of society, saying their role during the liberation era led to South Sudan’s independence.

Adut speaks on Saturday during a thanksgiving ceremony organized by the Bahr el Ghazal Women League in Juba under the theme “Women and Leadership.”

She says South Sudanese women bore the brunt of the liberation struggle and endured to support the fight for freedom.

The Senior Presidential Envoy for Special Programs added that even with limited empowerment, women continue to play an active role in nation building and peace efforts after the civil war.

“Through the beginning of time, you have seen women holding their families together, being the backbone of society, supporting their husbands, fathers, and their brothers and holding down the home where we all go to rest at the end of the day,” she said.

“And South Sudanese women in particular especially the ones that have been engaged in the forth-divine revolution. Your resilience is a must. I have never seen African women that are this resilient, you have done so much,” she added.

Adut also acknowledged what she calls the advocacy role of women, saying they are quick to find real solutions.

“You have seen a lot of our women in leadership advocating and being activists in the field of peace and reconciliation. It is women that can sit down and talk things out. It is women that are emotional and like to actually about their feelings and how things affect them. It is women that also quick to find solutions, it is women that are mothers, and as mother you possess the most powerful tool which is producing a human being,” she said.

The thanksgiving ceremony was organized to honour her appointment as the first woman Senior Presidential Envoy for Special Programs.