28 September 2012 - Women in South Sudan should put aside political as well as tribal differences and work together for their empowerment, according to participants at UNMISS-organized Open Peace Forums.

A series of one-day peace forums were organized over the past week in South Sudan's 10 states by UNMISS Gender Unit in partnership with UN Women and South Sudan Women Empowerment Network (SSWEN).

Initiated as a means for women to share their achievements, lessons learned, best practices and challenges, the forums were the first to be held after the country's independence in July 2011.

"Through the meetings, we were able to get women's views on their participation in leadership and peace building, and whether protection of women is taking place," said UNMISS Gender Officer Maria Nakabiito, who attended forums in Wau and Aweil.

Opening the forum in Eastern Equatoria, State Minister of Social Development, Youth and Sports Patrick Lodinga Kotein noted that insecurity was a key challenge. "Women are the primary victims of insecurity both at home and outside."

Participants in Western Bahr El-Ghazal discussed prevention of gender-based violence, stating that women, especially in rural areas, were abused in their homes by people who should be protecting them. They called for promotion of grassroots women's participation through leadership training.

Emphasizing that the law clearly stipulated women have 25 per cent representation in public institutions, forum participants in Northern Bahr El-Ghazal said this quota was hindered by customary and traditional beliefs.

South Sudan Women Empowerment Network member Paleki Mathew Obour noted that women were often left out of conflict resolution discussions in Upper Nile State.

"Most of the women in Upper Nile State are illiterate and most of them have not benefited from capacity building programs," Ms. Obour said. "These challenges hinder the struggle of women to fight for their rights."

Participants in all states recommended women's continuous engagement in peace building, protection of women and other security reforms especially relating to gender-based violence.

"Women also want to participate more actively in decision making from the lower to the higher levels of government." said UNMISS Gender officer Gladys Jambi at the forum in Upper Nile State.

As a follow-up to the forums, UNMISS Gender Unit has organized a national conference to be held in Juba in October. The event will bring together women from all 10 states to discuss recommendations from their respective areas and develop national proposals.