Workshop decides on network of gender experts
10 October 2011 – Participants at a workshop that kicked off today in the South Sudanese capital of Juba have decided to set up a national network of experts to enhance gender mainstreaming at all levels of government and society.
The five-day gender mainstreaming workshop, organized by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the country's Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare (MoGCSW), was attended by 35 senior government and civil society organization officials.
"Gender mainstreaming is an important tool for achieving gender equality and women empowerment," said MoGCSW Director General for Gender and Child Welfare Regiona Ossa Lullo during her opening remarks. "Without empowering women and ensuring their full participation at all levels of government policies, it is difficult to imagine development."
The director general stressed that gender mainstreaming from the grassroots level up would enhance the participation of women economically, socially and politically. She added that women's education was key, emphasizing that practices undermining gender equality like early marriages should be prevented by law.