{"id":46586,"date":"2026-08-05T16:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T14:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=46586"},"modified":"2026-08-05T16:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T14:40:21","slug":"western-equatoria-state-launches-civic-and-voter-education-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/05\/western-equatoria-state-launches-civic-and-voter-education-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Equatoria State launches civic and voter education campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Western Equatoria State has officially launched its Civic and Voter Education campaign, with election officials, women\u2019s leaders, civil society organisations,, and development partners calling on citizens to embrace peace, participate actively in the electoral process, and reject violence ahead of South Sudan’s general elections scheduled for December 22, 2026.<\/p>\n

The launch, held in Yambio, brought together state officials, representatives of political parties, civil society organisations, women’s groups, youth representatives, persons with disabilities, religious leaders, and development partners.<\/p>\n

Addressing participants, the Chairperson of the State High Elections Committee, Simon Bakama, said the launch marked a significant milestone in implementing one of the key provisions of the 2018 Revitalised Peace Agreement, which provides for democratic elections at the end of the transitional period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here today, first of all, to commit ourselves to peace. Without peace this country will not move forward,\u201d Bakama said.<\/p>\n

He said the civic and voter education program seeks to empower citizens to understand their constitutional rights and responsibilities, the electoral process, and how to participate peacefully in choosing their leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here today to say no to conflicts and yes to peace, to have an enabling environment for the democratic process of the elections in the state.\u201d Bakama Opined<\/p>\n

The election official stressed that the program would particularly target marginalised groups, including women, youth, persons with disabilities and communities living in remote areas, to ensure inclusive participation in the electoral process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe civic and voter education program is an opportunity for the citizens to understand the procedures of registration and voting to ensure they make informed choices,\u201d Bakama said.<\/p>\n

He also appealed to the state government and security agencies to guarantee the safety of election officials and civic educators as they travel across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are calling on all the state institutions and partners, especially the state government, to provide us with a secure environment so that our staff moving from county to county, payam to payam, and area to area can move without being harmed,\u201d Bakama stated.<\/p>\n

The chairperson commended the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), particularly its Integrated Electoral Assistance Team, for supporting the State High Elections Committee through infrastructure, logistics, training, and storage facilities for election materials.<\/p>\n

He further revealed that the committee would begin assessing and verifying voter registration and polling centres across the state before registration begins, citing that after this launch, we will be moving to the counties to identify and verify the registration centres used in the 2010 elections because some have been deserted while others have been destroyed.<\/p>\n

He assured the public that the committee remains committed to conducting elections that are free, fair, transparent, and peaceful.<\/p>\n

Speaking on behalf of the women of Western Equatoria State, Flora Gume described civic and voter education as a vital step toward strengthening democracy and ensuring that women participate meaningfully in the electoral process.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday’s event marks an important step in strengthening democracy and preparing our women and all the communities for peaceful, credible, and inclusive elections,\u201d Gume said<\/p>\n

She emphasised that civic education is not only about sharing information but also empowering citizens to exercise their democratic rights confidently.<\/p>\n

\u201cCivic and voter education is more than providing information. It is about empowering citizens to understand their rights, fulfill their responsibilities, and participate confidently in shaping the future of our state.\u201d Gume stated<\/p>\n

Flora appealed to the elections committee to ensure that voter education reaches women in remote communities and called for greater participation of women as civic educators and mobilizers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kindly encourage the committee to ensure that civic and voter education reaches every woman, including those in remote and hard-to-reach areas.\u201d Gume opined<\/p>\n

She urged security institutions to protect women, children, and other vulnerable groups throughout the electoral process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco Western Equatoria State has officially launched its Civic and Voter Education campaign, with election officials, women\u2019s leaders, civil society organisations,, and development partners calling on citizens to embrace peace, participate actively in the electoral process, and reject violence ahead of South Sudan’s general elections scheduled for December[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":46587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Governor-of-WES-HE.-Daniel-Badagbu-Rimbasa-and-the-Chairperson-of-the-State-High-Elections-Committee-Simon-Bakama.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46586","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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46588,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46586\/revisions\/46588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}