ACCORD, in collaboration with the African Union Mission in South Sudan (AUMISS); the Network of African Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation (FemWise-Africa); and the Women’s International Peace Centre (WIPC), convened a Strategic Thinking Dialogue Workshop, themed ‘Towards Building and Strengthening the FemWise Africa Chapter in South Sudan’. This workshop took place in Juba, South Sudan from 30 October to 1 November 2022.
The participants included FemWise-Africa members and peace-builders from the ten states and three administrative regions in South Sudan. ACCORD partners, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), joined the workshop as observers.
This strategic thinking platform, allowed for the South Sudanese women to engage and develop a joint roadmap and strategic action plan towards building and enhancing the FemWise-Africa Chapter in South Sudan. ACCORD’s facilitation process, guided the participants through drafting a situational analysis in the context of South Sudan, where they were able to unpack key forms of conflict. The women were then, better able to understand, ethnic and tribal conflict, and power imbalance among others. Participants were able to identify their role as women in the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). The local FemWise-Africa chapters of other African countries, Malawi; Nigeria; Ethiopia; and Zimbabwe shared lessons and experiences with the South Sudanese women, on their working modalities at the local level.
The participants developed a joint roadmap and strategic action plan, which included their vision as “A free, fair and just South Sudan where there is sustainable peace, development, and where women are supported and protected to occupy top leadership positions at all levels”. They presented the joint roadmap and strategic action plan to the South Sudan Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Honourable Aya Benjamin Warile, and the African Union (AU) Ambassador to South Sudan, H.E Professor. Joram Mukama Biswaro, both of whom reaffirmed their support for the South Sudanese woman as they build their FemWise Chapter at the national level.
ACCORD remains committed to the implementation of the WPS Agenda at all levels of society, and will further support the South Sudanese women in the next steps of the process.
