{"id":38249,"date":"2025-08-04T11:29:51","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T09:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=38249"},"modified":"2025-08-04T11:30:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T09:30:19","slug":"leaders-push-for-civic-engagement-to-combat-gender-based-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/04\/leaders-push-for-civic-engagement-to-combat-gender-based-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaders push for civic engagement to combat gender-based violence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Students, community leaders, Gov\u2019t officials and partners pose for a photo after the Civic Education awareness event in Terekeka county on Friday | Photo Alan<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Alan Clement<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A recent civic education awareness event on South Sudan\u2019s newly enacted transitional justice laws has shed light on the pervasive issues of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Terekeka county.<\/p>\n

The event led by the Centre for Inclusive Governance, Peace and Justice with funds from Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), is part of a wider initiative across Central Equatoria State aimed at fostering open dialogue around sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and transitional justice.<\/p>\n

It focused on the Compensation and Reparation Authority (CRA) Act, 2024 and the Commission for Truth, Healing and Reconciliation (CTRH) Act, 2024 which are central components of South Sudan\u2019s transitional justice framework designed to address historic and ongoing injustices through national reconciliation, documentation of human rights abuses, and provision of reparations to victims.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the event which comes as Terekeka continues to struggle with persistent gender-based violence, low education levels particularly among girls and limited access to justice, Mary Sadia, a Member of Parliament for Terekeka County in the CES Legislative assembly, highlighted the alarming state of violence against women.<\/p>\n

She specifically cited a case in Tali payam where a woman was shot as a “retaliation resulting from inter-clan conflict,” and called for the awareness activities to be expanded to all eight payams of the county.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot leave out boys and men in these programs,\u201d Sadia said. \u201cThey are often the perpetrators, and unless they are part of the conversation, we will not break the cycle of violence,\u2019 Sadia said while confirming that, \u201cTerekeka has been included in the survivors’ budget in Juba.\u201d She also called for the introduction of mobile schools for children, particularly in cattle camps, to improve education and reduce vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

The Acting Executive Director, Thomas Salah Anthony, speaking on behalf of the absent county commissioner, underlined the administration\u2019s commitment to addressing both conflict and education challenges. He said, \u201cTerekeka ranks lowest in the education of girls in Central Equatoria,\u201d announcing new resolutions designed to improve peace and education, including controlling traditional dances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe county authorities have resolved that traditional dances will be held at the freedom square on non-working days and end at 6 PM,\u201d Salah said emphasizing that traditional dances often lead to early pregnancies.<\/p>\n

Speakers from the Terekeka Women Association and the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission also shared their concerns. Mama Asunta, the association’s chairlady, expressed her excitement about the dialogues but also called for an end to late-night traditional dances. \u201cMost of those involved in the dances are school-going children. It hurts to see girls dropping out and getting pregnant so young,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Enyasio Lukudu, the Deputy Acting Coordinator for the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission noted that many people in Terekeka are “marginalized and traumatized” but are often afraid to report violence to the police or women’s desk. He appealed to implementing partners to design longer-lasting programs, as short-term projects are insufficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many victims who don\u2019t know how to report violence or even trust the systems in place,\u201d said a Lukudu. \u201cWe need longer-term projects, not one-off events to be able to help survivors properly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The CIGPJ project coordinator, Nunu Diana Alison, reiterated the need to promote a victim-centered approach and fostering open dialogues. She, along with Nancy Adokorach of NPA,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alan Clement A recent civic education awareness event on South Sudan\u2019s newly enacted transitional justice laws has shed light on the pervasive issues of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Terekeka county. The event led by the Centre for Inclusive Governance, Peace and Justice with funds from Norwegian People’s[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":38251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-central-equatoria-state","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Students-community-leaders-Govt-officials-and-partners-pose-for-a-photo-after-the-Civic-Education-awareness-event-in-Tere-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38252,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38249\/revisions\/38252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}