The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network on Wednesday awarded three women who were recognized for their work as human rights defenders across South Sudan at a ceremony held in Wau. Western Bahr el Ghazal State.
The awardees were Juleta Lino, Adau Rechael, and Viviana Joseph.
A young lady, Juleta Lino, has been consistently advocating for women’s rights in Wau through mainly radio and also using other media platforms. She is also a leading voice in advocating for women at Wau Civic Engagement Center, where she designs impactful programs and raises critical issues affecting women and young girls.
Her unwavering grassroots involvement, especially as a youth leader, is inspiring a new generation of gender equality advocates in South Sudan.
Another awardee is Adau Rechael from Jonglei State. She is the visionary founder and Executive Director of Women Empowerment Centre South Sudan. Using her leadership skills, Adau managed to mobilize and support eight women’s groups totaling 240 members to raise awareness about gender-based violence (GBV), human rights, and women’s empowerment, reaching 8,000 people.
In 2019, Adau led a bold march under “The crown of women voice and leadership campaign” to the Jonglei State governor’s office and successfully advocated for increasing of women representatives in the state’s leadership. Her work led to the inclusion of two female chiefs in bench courts and appointment of one female traditional chief and a female civil administrator at payam level. Also, currenly Jonglei State has three female ministers.
The awardee from Wau is Mona Musa Manyang, a trailblazing human rights defender and legal practitioner who serves as a commissioner of oaths and is also a member of the Central Committee of the South Sudan Bar Association. She founded Alliance for Lawyers, a grassroots organization committed to promoting access to justice for women and girls.
Working in one of South Sudan’s most fragile and militarized regions, she provides legal aid to female survivors of violence, many of whom are married to security personnel, placing both the survivors and their defenders at high personal risk.
Mona’s work goes beyond the courtroom, and she actively speaks out to encourage women’s participation in leadership. She also successfully prosecuted a defilement case involving a 14-year-old girl, resulting in a 10-year jail term for the offender. A few years ago, she represented the family of a five-year-old girl who was defiled to death, and the court sentenced the reprobate to death, and he was hanged in 2023. This year, Mona provided legal aid to 30 female inmates, and they were freed from jail.
Juleta welcomed the award and said it will continue inspiring her work to achieve gender equality.
“I am so happy and honored by this award and for being recognized as one of the women human rights defenders at the grassroots level,” she said.
For her part, Adau Rechael appreciated the SIHA Network for the recognition and encouraged women to work together to emancipate themselves.
“This award means that women need to stand up, support each other, and continue working for those who are marginalized, vulnerable, excluded from decision-making, and those who are suffering economically,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Mona Musa said the award will boost her work.
On behalf of the SIHA Network, Viviana Joshep Awad, the project officer in Wau, said the awards were to appreciate and honor the three women for their work in fighting GBV and advocating women’s rights in the country.
“We are very grateful today (Wednesday) that we are celebrating the achievements of women human rights defenders in Wau,” she said. “As the SIHA Network, we congratulate them on addressing GBV that is affecting women and girls in South Sudan. In defending rights, they have contributed a lot in supporting the survivors in accessing justice.”
The three awardees were among 30 candidates for this year’s SIHA Network awards.