UN asks women to seek political posts in upcoming elections

Rukaya Mohammed, Deputy Country Representative of U.N Women in South Sudan speaks during a one-day media engagement held in Juba on Wednesday, 9 August 2024 (Photo by Awan Achiek)

By Awan Achiek

Women have been urged to participate and compete for political positions in the forthcoming elections in December.

Rukaya Mohamed, Deputy Country Representative of U.N. Women in South Sudan on Thursday asked women to compete with their male counterparts.

“When there is an election, it is an opportunity for women, young women. Especially in this country, this is going to be the first ever election. So it’s an opportunity for all of you,” Mohammed said during a one-day media engagement held in Juba on Wednesday.

Mohammed encouraged women to use the upcoming elections to increase their political participation in the decision-making process.

“I can see the president, I can see the governors, I can see the deputy governors here. It’s an opportunity for all of you to really mobilize yourselves and other women or even the media to encourage more women to vote,” she said.

“If you don’t participate in politics, you will not be able to lead the country,” Mohamed said.

She noted that some women might be hindered from participating in politics by their male counterparts who see them as a threat.

“Election also has its own threats. We have a lot of violence against women. We’ve seen it in other countries,” Mohamed said.

“If a woman wants to contest, sometimes she’s even afraid because maybe her male counterpart who is contesting will see her as a threat, and a lot of violence, even violence against her children,” she disclosed.

Mohamed cautioned women to be very careful with political tactics that would be used deliberately to prevent them from participating in politics.

She said that some political tactics that could be deployed against women aspiring for political office include bullying on social media platform.

Mohamed stressed the need to sensitize people on violence against women, especially during elections.

“We need to create an enabling environment so that women feel safe and secure to participate and occupy key positions in the country,” she said.

Mohamed commended the National Election Commission for including women in top decision making positions.

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