Southern Sudanese women’s achievements
By Jane Kani Edward*
Mar 8, 2006 — In 1975, the United Nations formally declared March 8 as the day on which women around the world commemorate their struggles and celebrate their achievements. On this International Women’s Day, I take this opportunity to reflect on the achievements of southern Sudanese women in the past 35 years. Although southern Sudan has undergone turbulent times characterized by civil wars, political instability, displacement and economic difficulties, some southern Sudanese women were able to struggle against all odds for their basic human rights. Such rights include the right to education, the right to work, and the right to participate in politics.
During the period from 1956 to 1972, girls’ education in southern Sudan was very minimal. This situation can be attributed partly to armed conflicts, and cultural attitudes such as early marriage that discourage girls’ education. With the signing of the Addis Ababa agreement in 1972 between the government of Sudan and the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM), ending the first phase of civil war (1955-1972) in Sudan, the south experienced relative peace and stability for a decade. This period from 1972 to1982 provided an opportunity for children to go to school, and for a minimal development of infrastructure. Children of both genders were enrolled in primary school. Over the years some of them continued to intermediate and secondary schools. However, only few southern Sudanese women – particularly those who returned to Sudan after the war – were able to join and complete their studies at the University of Khartoum. Some of these women include, Vicotria Yar Arol, the first southern Sudanese woman to enter the University of Khartoum, Mary Kiden, Agnes Lukudu, Margaret Juan Lado, Helen Oller, Dr. Anna Etto, Rose Muraa and Josephine Lagu, to mention a few. Few women also joined the High Nursing College in Khartoum. Furthermore, with the opening of Juba University in 1977 the number of women pursuing university education gradually increased. Some women joined the Ahfad Women’s University in Khartoum, and other colleges and institutions in the north, as well as universities and colleges in Egypt.
In terms of political participation during this period, few women were able to participate in politics and public affairs. Although some of southern Sudan cultural practices and traditions hinder women’s participation in public affairs, some women were able to overcome such hindrance and were appointed in decision-making bodies and other higher-ranking positions. For example, women such as Suzana Ayiba Hakim, Victoria Yar Arol, Mary Bassiouni and Zainab Yasin, among others, were able to progress to higher-ranking government positions as Members of the Parliament, chairs of committees and ministers in both the regional and central governments. In addition, some women joined Juba University as lecturers. Dr. Anna Etto, Josephine Lagu, Rose Muraa, and Cecelia Emmunu, for example, held teaching positions in early 1980s before the university was moved to Khartoum in late 1987. Similarly, some women joined the labor market as nurses, teachers, secretaries, accountants, policewomen, and so on.
The renewal of civil war in mid 1983 has negatively affected the educational system in southern Sudan. Many schools and other institutions of learning ceased to function as the war intensified. Almost all schools in rural areas were destroyed. In towns such as Juba, where many displaced rural communities took refuge, many schools were temporarily occupied by the displaced people before they were relocated to displaced people’s camps. This situation of course affected school enrolment and the quality of education.
As the war intensified more southern Sudanese became internally displaced. Others sought refuge in the neighboring countries of Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in North America and other Western European countries. Despite the difficult circumstances of displacement and refugeeness, southern Sudanese in general and southern Sudanese women in particular did not give in to hardships and obstacles. Rather, they continued to struggle to improve their lives in different ways. In Khartoum, for example, southern Sudanese young women (and men) continue to pursue their educational goals by joining the poorly equipped displaced schools opened for them. The number of women who enrolled into the Ahfad Women’s University, Juba University and other newly opened universities and colleges in Sudan was relatively increased. Those in refugee camps or in the cities of Uganda, and Kenya, for example, continued to pursue their education despite the difficult refugee circumstances. However, the majority of southern Sudanese who migrated to Egypt due to the war were at the disadvantage position as compared to those in Kenya and Uganda, This is because the Egyptian educational system does not allow foreigners to enroll into Egypt’s public schools. On the other hand, those who migrated to North America, Australia and Western European countries were able to continue with their secondary, and post secondary education. Consequently, some women who had completed their undergraduate, whether inside or outside of Sudan were able to pursue their graduate studies in exile, and received Diplomas, Masters and Doctoral degrees in various fields of study.
The period from mid 1990s to the present indeed represents a turning point in the history of southern Sudanese women, particularly in their involvement in the public life of the society. One of the important developments during this period is that, many women joined the liberation struggle fighting side-by-side with their male counterparts. Some of these women progressed to high ranking positions in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). In the home front, women continued to support the struggle by providing food to the soldiers, caring for the wounded, the sick, children, the elderly and the orphaned.
Another dramatic development is the emergence of the spirit of activism and organizing among women, particularly among those living in exile. Southern Sudanese women refugees and immigrants’ experiences in exile brought them into contact with other cultures, people, laws, and challenges. They became exposed to more information, either through the media or participation in meetings, workshops, short courses, and regional and international conferences pertaining to local and global issues affecting women. For example, several southern Sudanese women who were in Egypt attended the 1994 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Forum of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo. Some women attended the regional conference in Dakar, Senegal, in 1995 in preparation for the Beijing Conference. Southern Sudanese women from Egypt, Kenya and Sudan, also attended the NGOs Forum of the 1995 United Nations International Women’s Conference in Beijing. Others participated in short courses, seminars and workshops on gender and human rights issues.
Such exposure made women aware of global and regional events and issues affecting women. Women also became more aware of the importance of organizing and collective action to address the challenges facing women whether in exile or at home. Out of this exposure and realization, southern Sudanese women at home and in refugee camps in the neighboring countries, as well as those in North America, and European countries formed several women’s organizations to address the difficulties that face women and to seek possible solutions to them. Despite their limitations, women’s organizations were/are able to address women’s problems in a multi-faceted way, combining the needs of women in the areas of reproductive health, economic, social and political empowerment.
This spirit of activism has allowed many women to mobilize and campaign for change in laws and practices affecting women’s lives, and for the inclusion of women in decision-making positions in the southern Sudanese society. It has also allowed many southerners to acknowledge the fact that women are marginalized in the south, and there is an urgent need for improving women’s conditions. Thus, women’s marginalized position is officially recognized by our late hero Dr. John Garang de Mabior, former First Vice President of the Sudan and the former President of the Government of Southern Sudan, in his speech during the signing ceremony of the Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) (Nairobi, Kenya, January 9, 2005). According to him “women in Sudan as elsewhere in the world are marginalized of the marginalized whose suffering goes beyond description.” As a result, the CPA clearly stipulated that people’s rights and fundamental freedoms be respected in accordance with international human rights treaties. It also allocated 25% positions for women.
With the signing of the CPA and the formation of the Government of National Unity, the Government of Southern Sudan and that of the States respectively, many women were/are appointed into several decision-making positions as compared to the previous decades. For example, there are more than 20 southern Sudanese women in the National Assembly and about 28 women in the Southern Sudan Parliament. There are two Cabinet ministers, Rebecca N. De Mabior, Minister of Transport and Roads, and Mary Kiden, Minister of Gender, Social Welfare and Religious Affairs. There are also two women appointed as advisors to the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Awut Deng Achuel, Advisor for Diversity and women’s Rights and Agnes Lukudu, Advisor for Development Affairs. About 9 women are in the governments of the states, as Ministers, Advisors and Deputy Governors. Similarly, more women are joining the labor force.
Despite the difficult circumstances of displacement, instability, social, cultural and economic obstacles, southern Sudanese women were/are able to struggle to improve their lives and that of their communities whether inside the Sudan or in exile. However, women in southern Sudan still face many challenges such as the low literacy rate and gender-based violence that sadly continue to affect their lives in the 21st. century.
* Dr. Jane Kani Edward is a Sudanese Canadian. She is currently an External Associate at the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University, Toronto, Canada. She is the author of “South Sudanese Refugee Women: Questioning the Past, Imagining the Future,” pp. 272-289, In Women’s Rights and Human Rights: International Historical Perspectives, edited by Patricia Grimshaw, Katie Holmes and Marilyn Lake, London: Palgrave, 2001, and “The Consequences of Sudan’s Civil Wars on the Civilian Population,” In African Civilians, edited by John Laband (forthcoming). Email: [email protected]