Delegation from Southern Sudan: discussion on Gender Issues
Monitoring Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women
03 November 2006
Meeting Summary
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Meeting report
JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE AND
STATUS OF WOMEN
3 November 2006
DELEGATION FROM SOUTHERN SUDAN: DISCUSSION ON GENDER ISSUES
Acting Chairperson: Ms S E Mabe (ANC)
Documents handed out:
Information Service: Research;
South African Development Community on Gender and Development
Information Service: Research; Significant Achievements in Promoting Gender Equity
in South Africa: Part1
& Part2
SUMMARY
A delegation of members of the Committee on Gender, Social Welfare,
Youth and Sport of the Parliament of Southern Sudan visited the Committee to
share their experiences. At the outset the Joint Monitoring Committee explained
how Parliament operated and what were the specific functions of this Committee.
They highlighted that the Committee monitored all issues affecting women in
other committees, monitored the proper implementation of laws at a provincial
and local level and the challenges faced. The safety and quality of life of
vulnerable groups were mirrors of society. The Constitution and the equality
legislation had vastly improved the status of women but there were still some
cultural barriers. The Sudanese delegation gave a brief history of the conflict
in Sudan, and reported that Sudanese culture had been swamped by Arab cultures
and beliefs. Arabs owned about one third of the African continent and Sudan was
at the frontline of the struggle against oppression. Less than 1% of Sudanese
women were educated. Although constitutionally they were to make up 25% of the
government, this did not happen in practice. The delegation believed that
education was vital, that many of the problems lay in culture and tradition,
that education must stress the importance of women. They asked if the education
in South Africa on the rights of women had been directed to both women and men.
They asked for clarity on the Constitutional provisions, on promotion of
women’s projects and on raising funds for promotion.
Members of the Joint Committee said that they did not have all the answers but
stressed that it was imperative for all women, regardless of their background,
to unite, that international links were very important, and that proper
attention needed to be given to women’s issues in budgets. Education was
important, but more so was building of confidence by women, so that they were
able to realise their potential even if not formally educated. There would
always be resistance to equality, but women should empower each other. It was
suggested that the Sudanese draw up a list of issues and that further networks
should be built.
MINUTES
The Acting Chairperson tabled an apology from the Chairperson of the Committee,
who was in Democratic Republic of Congo.
She welcomed the delegation, comprised of members of the Committee on Gender,
Social Welfare, Youth and Sport of the Parliament of Southern Sudan
She welcomed the opportunity for the Members of this
Committee to share their experiences with the visiting delegation and explain
how the committee operated. She said that this Committee was allied to the
Commission on Gender Equality and the Office on the Status of Women. She
explained that Parliament consisted of the National Assembly (NA) and the
National Council of Provinces (NCOP). This Committee was made up of 13 members
from the NA and 9 members (one from each province) from the NCOP. The primary
function of the Committee was to monitor the implementation of government
commitments to international agreements that had been made in terms of gender
issues. It monitored legislation affecting women and tries to ensure that
gender was mainstreamed in all departments in the country. The Committee was a
multiparty committee.
Ms X Makasi (ANC) added that this Committee was very
important because it monitored the issues that affected women in every other
committee. It monitored particularly how laws that were passed in parliament
were being implemented on a provincial and local level, and tried to establish
what the challenges to implementation of these laws were. For instance, culture
could present a challenge to the implementation of much gender legislation. In
the rural areas many women did not report marital assault because that would be
contrary to their culture.
Mr F Maserumule (ANC) said that the former President
of the ANC, Oliver Tambo, used to say that the
liberation of South Africa would be determined by the emancipation of women and
children. The safety and quality of life of women, children, the elderly and
the disabled were mirrors for society, reflecting how well society was
functioning. He said that his first concern when he was a soldier was the
safety of women and children in a conflict. He wondered why the people of Sudan
were at war with each other, when South Africans had provide
it possible to peacefully coexist even though there were many tribes and
languages within its borders.
Ms F Batyi (ID) said that South Africa had the most
exciting Constitution. She said that before 1994 a woman was referred to as a
girl, could not be independent and needed her husband’s permission to do many
things. She could only become a nurse or teacher. After 1994 women were able to
be what they wanted to be. The Deputy President was a woman. Women now had
their own identity and independence. She hoped that all African countries could
follow South Africa’s example.
Ms J Semple (DA) said that the South African
government was a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDOR) and the Beijing
Platform of Action. Government aimed to improve the status of women and this
was the reason the committee was formed. She reiterated that the aim of the
committee was to monitor government legislation and see whether it was working,
and, if legislation was not being implemented, to find out the reasons.
Ms Betty Achan Ogwaro
(Leader of the delegation) asked Prof Kwesi Kwaa Prah, Director of the Centre
for Advanced Studies of African Society, to explain some of the history of
Sudan.
Prof Prah said that Sudan was the biggest country in
Africa and that all cultures in all corners of Africa were represented within
its borders. It also had had the longest war in Africa, not because the
Sudanese loved war, but to reach peace through resisting oppression. The war
started on 17 August 1955 owing to centuries-long oppression of Africans. There
had been around 1000 years of Arab-led slavery in Sudan, which the Sudanese had
to resist. The fighting continued until the Addis Ababa agreement was signed in
1972. After this there was still insurgency as some people were not satisfied
with the terms of the agreement. This low intensity war
continued until 1983 when a military ruler dismantled the agreement. The
South then went to war until last year when a peace agreement was signed. Two thirds
of all Sudanese were African, but had been dominated in rule by settler Arab
groups. That was the source of the conflict. Even in the heartlands of the Arab
sections of Sudan, there were Africans who had become Arabised. Their cultures had been removed by
forbidding the use of their languages, their practices and the infiltration of
Islam. These African people’s mentality, values and taste was Arab. The
government had been using such people to fight a war of expansion. Arabs called
this “killing a slave with a slave”. Africans in Sudan were resisting
oppression on behalf of all Africans on the continent. Arabs owned about one
third of the African continent and Sudan was at the frontline of the struggle.
Ms Achan Ogwaro asked how
the committee had raised the status of women to equal the status of men. She
asked for commitment from the Committee to help their counterparts in raising
the status of women. The capacity of women in Southern Sudan remained much less
than of men. Less than 1% of women were educated although they consisted of 61%
of the population. Women’s educational standards must be raised. Female
leadership was also a problem, as they had to consider how to strengthen the
leadership capacity of the few educated women. She asked what kind of models
the Committee could suggest to improve women’s status. Constitutionally women
were supposed to make up 25% of government, but this did not happen. Women need
support from the committee, particularly in training.
Mr C Gakmar reported that Sudan was divided into the
North and the South, governed by separate systems. The South had an executive,
legislature and judiciary. Its constitution was similar to South Africa’s.
There were members of the executive who were women and some women even headed
committees. He said that this showed that women were being given rights.
Sudan’s problem lay in culture and traditions. He asked how this Committee had
educated people to understand the importance of women. He asked if women only
were being informed of their rights or if men were also being educated.
Ms M Ajonga asked how the Committee promoted women’s
projects and improved the capacity of women in the rural areas. She also asked
how the Committee raised funds for promoting the capacity of women.
Mr P Walla asked how the South African Constitution promoted the status of
women and equality.
Mr B Kol said that the last Sudanese budget had
emphasised women’s education, recognising that it would lead to leadership.
Women in Sudan had an important role to play in the liberation movement. South
Africa had taken an intellectual approach and he wanted to know how South
Africa had used education in order to improve the status of women.
Ms A Magoun asked what
challenges women in South Africa faced.
Ms C Botha (DA) said that the Committee also had a
lot to learn, not only to teach. She added that she did not think that the
Committee had the answers to all of the questions. She advised the delegation
to use the international links that existed for women. This would allow them to
keep up with an international standard held up by women all around the world.
She said they should use media exposure to inform the world about the real
issues in Sudan. She added that the battle against culture and tradition would
never be over. It would remain as a constant challenge. The economy was closely
connected to the emancipation of women, as if there was more to share, women’s
position in society would improve. The budget should be examined to establish
how women were benefiting from the allocation. In the early 1990s the South
African Women’s Coalition had involved all women in South Africa, in a non-sectoral format, and had proved that it was imperative for
women who differed to unite.
Mr Maserumule said the history of women’s active struggle
in South Africa stretched back 50 years. Women stood up to fight for
themselves, which led to their inclusion in the constitution. The main
challenge that women faced was in leadership. If a woman was educated, the
nation would be educated. He advised the delegation that they needed a
committee that cut across all sectors of life to improve the status of women.
He appealed to the delegation to work for peace in Sudan.
Ms Makasi said that women should look for common
ground and work on the things that affected them all, across parties. There
would always be resistance to women’s equality but this should not discourage
those working for equality.
Ms N Ngele (ANC) said that the delegation should not
let education preoccupy their minds to exclusion of other factors. Most women
in parliament were not educated. Women needed to have confidence in themselves
and realise that experience was also valuable. She said women were politically
equal to men, regardless of education.
Ms Makasi agreed with Ms Ngele
and said that women were the managers of homes. She said that South Africans
were lucky to have had a leader like Oliver R Tambo,
who supported the freedom of women. She said that women only wanted what was
good for their families and the country. They needed to be empowered so that
the fruits of their labour could be realised. Women must empower each other.
They should concentrate on the female leaders in parliament now, not focus too
much on those coming up.
Ms Ngele said the delegation needed to indicate their
areas of interest so that a programme could be drawn up in order to address
those needs and interests.
Ms Semple suggested that the delegation needed to
mobilise women to vote around issues that are important to them in order to get
the issues on the table.
Ms Achan Ogwaro said that
they had produced a paper summarising the issues that were important to them.
She said that she hoped women would become more confident and assertive in
order to continue their role in empowering the nation. She asked if women only
were being educated about their rights and capabilities or whether men were
also being educated. She said men were very resistant to empowering women and
she asked how they could overcome this. She said there were traditions in Sudan
that should be considered as domestic violence. She hoped that international
pressure could be used to change this. She said she would like the South
African women’s caucus to network with the Southern Sudanese Parliamentarian
Women’s League in order to further women’s issues. She thanked the committee
for the discussion.
The Chair thanked the delegation.
The meeting adjourned.
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