The National Transformational Leadership Institute (NTLI) conducted a 10 days training in Ruweng Administrative Area under the theme “Women at the fore-front in the fight against COVID-19”. The participants were 38 women drawn from diverse social backgrounds comprising of teachers, former state parliamentarians including the Chief Whip, former Ruweng State Advisor, women leaders, policewomen, government officials and students.
The training focused on transformational leadership, peacebuilding, conflict management, sexual gender based violence and raising awareness on COVID-19 prevention and response measures. The participants gained an in-depth understanding of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) provisions for women and protection of women’s rights, improved their skills for reporting and assisting sexual gender based violence survivors by providing psycho-social support and enhanced the women’s abilities in dialogue and reconciliation.
The participants persistently raised serious concerns like exclusion from political platforms, limited economic resources and substandard health conditions for instance high mortality rates among women and increased cases of deformed new born babies as a result of oil pollution.
The discussions with the participants projected that more awareness trainings will empower women to raise their voices especially in decision making processes. The sessions empowered the women and deepened their understanding of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and the provisions for women’s participation in the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU) both at the state and national level.