Monrovia — South Sudanese delegation to Liberia says valuable experiences and knowledge gained will be crucial in enhancing preparation for their country's elections expected to take place in December this year.
Last week, the delegation comprised of South Sudanese women representatives from the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), Political Parties Council, Judicial Reform Committee, National Transformational Leadership Institute/Academia, the National Press Club and Civil Society Organizations including the South Sudan Women Coalition, Women Bloc, and Centre for Inclusive Governance, Peace and Justice participated in an experience sharing mission in Liberia.
The mission was organized by UN Women Country Offices in South Sudan and Liberia with funding from the Government of Norway with an aim of exchanging knowledge with different Liberian counterparts on Transitional Reform and elections processes, strengthening women's movement, political participation and use of Temporary Special Measures to attain gender equality.
During its five-day visit from 25th to 29th March, the delegation met with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, National Elections Commission, Ministry of Justice, United Nations Country Team (UNCT), Women Legislative Caucus, ECOWAS Commission to Liberia, Liberia Elections Observation Network (LEON), the Liberian media and Civil Society Organizations promoting inclusive political participation.
The team also met with the Women's organizations and Women NGOS Secretariat of Liberia and the Liberian Women Mass Action for Peace.
"We are immensely grateful to the government of Liberia, UN family and all stakeholders for providing a learning opportunity that has enlightened us and give more insight on how to address pertinent issues geared towards achieving a durable peace and democracy," said Dr. Angelina Bazugba, Director Dean of the National Transformative Leadership at the University of Juba and head delegation at a press conference climaxing the trip.
"Having drawn strength from your hospitality and bonding time on our common struggles, we would like to assure you that we are going home with renewed minds and ideas that will contribute in enhancing our preparations for the 2024 elections. May our dream for a healed Africa be realized in this lifetime in which we exist."
This December, South Sudanese will go to the polls to elect their national leaders, an election which observers say is crucial to restoring peace and tranquility in Africa's youngest nations which have been plagued by civil wars.
To ensure that the country's first post-independence election is successfully held, there have been calls for active participation of stakeholders. It is against this background that the idea of a knowledge sharing mission to Liberia was born at an international conference held in South Sudan which was attended by top Liberian women including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female President.
Dr. Bazugba noted that through experience sharing, the delegates have gained knowledge and skills on the importance of civic awareness and engagement ahead of elections: prevention of Violence Against Women before, during and after elections; the significant roles of electoral management and constitution making bodies and support needed from various actors and donors.
The group also learned innovative approaches and strategies used by women and young people's organizations to address structural barriers to women participation in public life; and tactics employed by civil society organizations in advocating for gender sensitive policies and inclusion of women in decision-making positions, she said. She further noted that the team recognized that violence against women in the form of physical, sexual, verbal and cyber harassment during the election process remains a major challenge. As such, there is a need for concerted efforts by community, government and partners to ensure that there is a conducive environment for women's participation as voters and candidates.
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The delegation's visit came as Liberia, once affected by back to back civil wars, just concluded its 4th post war general elections and second peaceful transition from one democratically elected government to another. The South Sudanese delegation said they learned a lot in Liberia.
"We learned that election is a key, but you need to be prepared for election. Liberia prepared for the election for two years. We have a short time as compared to Liberia, but with this knowledge, we are going to do our best to ensure we have a peaceful election," said Hon. Hon. Charity Yakob Kimbo, a Parliamentarian from the South Sudanese Transitional National Legislature Assembly.
