It was vital for women to scale up their participation in the peace and security affairs of South Sudan, the top UNMISS official in Western Bahr el Ghazal said in the state capital Wau today.

UNMISS State Coordinator Winnie Babihuga was speaking at the opening ceremony of an Open Peace Forum organized by the mission’s Gender Affairs Unit.

More than 30 women drawn from different civil society organizations in the state attended the workshop, which focused its discussion on UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

The resolution, which was adopted by the Security Council in October 2000, reaffirms the important role of women in preventing and resolving conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction.

It also stresses the importance of women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security and urges all actors to increase the participation of women and incorporate gender perspectives in all UN peace and security efforts.

Noting that “having this workshop at this particular time is extremely important”, Ms. Babihuga called on all participants to be active in promoting peace as well as supporting efforts to uphold security.

“We need to change our attitude,” said Ms. Babihuga. “If we want peace for our country, we must be in the forefront.”

She urged the participants to fairly select two competent women to speak on behalf of the state’s women at the national level on matters of importance to women across the country.

“Being in the leadership does not mean you must be in a paid job,” she said. “Leadership does not mean that you must be part of the state government or the county.”

Viola Philip, the director of Women Affairs in the Ministry of Gender and Social Welfare, called for more opportunities that would enable women to learn more about gender issues.

“Since gender-related concepts are too wide, we women need to have a good understanding of it and teach others,” she said.