UN decrie ‘very poor’ state of Sudanese women

Sept 21, 2005 (UNITED NATIONS) — A senior official of the United Nations said that the situation of women and girls in Sudan, especially in camps for
displaced persons and in the south, remains “very poor” and requires
urgent action.

A refugee woman waits in line outside the MSF field hospital in Tine, Chad. (file/AFP).

Rachel Mayanja, UN secretary-general Special Advisor on Gender Issues and
the Advancement of Women, told a press briefing here Wednesday that women
in the country lacked economic opportunities, access to clean water,
education and healthcare.

Mayanja visited the Sudan 4-11 September to gather firsthand information
on the condition of women in the country and international response to
the needs of the people there.

During the visit, Mayanja met Sudanese government and UN officials,
senior members of the African peacekeeping mission in the Darfur
region and citizen groups.

Government officials, she said, expressed their commitment to gender
equality during the meetings, but she said the government has not done
much to implement the Beijing Platform, a landmark agreement at a UN
conference on women in 1995 setting out measures to ensure gender
equality.

Mayanja said Sudan has not even ratified the Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

The government has, however, adopted a plan of action on violence against
women, she said, pointing out that such gender violence still persists
with impunity.

The UN official said Sudanese women were “so energised to pursue their
dreams” following the signing of the peace agreement that officially
ended the war in southern Sudan.

But just coming out of two decades of civil war, she said, it will take
time for the women to make meaningful progress.

Many Sudanese women, she said, do not know their rights, some of them not
even aware of the Beijing Platform.

Mayanja appealed to donors to provide financial resources to help improve
the condition of Sudanese women.

(PANA/ST)