The Women’s Rights Coalition of Central Equatoria State’s Yei River County, locally known as Sout Al Mara, was officially launched in Yei Town on Wednesday, marking a major milestone in the fight to advance women’s rights and prevent sexual and gender-based violence across the county.
The event, organized by Women for Women International and held at City Link Hotel, brought together government officials, development partners, civil society organizations, women’s groups, and community leaders.
The coalition was formed following a five-day coalition-building and movement development workshop held in May, which brought together 56 participants, including representatives of women’s rights organizations, community leaders, and change agents from Mugwo, Yei, Otogo, Lasu, and Tore payams.
The coalition’s chairperson in Yei, Goro Grace, said Sout Al Mara will champion the voices of women by lobbying and advocating for their meaningful participation in decision-making at the social, cultural, and community levels.
“We are looking towards advocating for the issues of women. We know that there are so many issues in the community. We want to work in all five payams of Yei River County and be able to lobby and advocate to make sure that we get better social services,” she said. “We want to see that women are brought to the decision-making table and that they also participate in all programs because they have been left behind in many areas.”
Meanwhile, Loduwe Richard, Director of Yei River County Department of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, reaffirmed the department’s commitment to working closely with the coalition. He also appealed to development partners to support the coalition in reaching vulnerable groups, including children, persons with disabilities, and other people in need.
“We will work together to see that the social welfare of everybody- the marginalized, every woman, the girl and children is taken care of. My message to the donors outside this coalition is for everybody out there to come and support this coalition,” he said. “These women in Yei River County are from civil society, women-led, and faith-based groups, and people with disabilities, and they are calling for support. This coalition will rise for the safety and future of your kids.”
On her part, Nunu Dianna Alison, Director General in the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare Central Equatoria State, said the coalition seeks to tackle the root causes of sexual and gender-based violence through collective advocacy, public awareness campaigns, and stronger protection for women and girls, while complementing government efforts across Yei River County.
“The coalition is very important in amplifying the issues affecting women from the grassroots level and also advocating for these issues so that institutions such as where we work at the State Ministry of Gender can pick up those issues and put them into our programs and also advocate for policy formulations,” she said. “This coalition will be able to support and complement our work as the state gender ministry in responding to cases of gender-based violence and also having prevention activities at the county level to change the behaviors of the people towards gender-based violence, survivors, and also training vulnerable women.”
The launch also unveiled the coalition’s mandate, goals, and governance structure while providing a platform for stakeholders to strengthen partnerships and coordinate efforts to promote and protect the rights of women and girls. The initiative is being implemented under the Women’s Micro-businesses and Coalitions for Change: Preventing Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Yei River County project, funded by the German Development Corporation and the European Union, with support from GIZ.
and then