1.The Anti-GBV Bill, tabled in Parliament in 2019, aimed at reforming and consolidating the law relating to gender based violence including domestic violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence and offences, assault, harassment, harmful customary practices, and child protection; to provide for the protection of victims of gender-based violence; constitute the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Committee; establish the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Fund; to establish the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Court; establish the One Stop Centre also known as Family Protection Centre. Under YW4A, we will advocate for the adoption of this Bill and its enactment. 2. The Family Law Bill provides for marriage, including setting age of marriage at 18 and above, divorce and succession to property including distribution of property in testate and intestate succession. It is in line with regional and international human rights norms and would solve the challenge brought on by the application of customary law. 3. The Transitional Constitution of South Sudan as amended by the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan champions gender equality but allows unwritten customary law and practices and customary courts for each of the 64 tribes significant influence of women, supporting their subordination and discrimination. As the country embarks on the development of a Permanent Constitution, the YW4A programme will engage in the process to (1) advocate for the setting of the minimum age of marriage at 18 in line with the Child Act and other instruments ratified by South Sudan and (2) to define that the applicable customary law is secondary and that which is based on positive customary practices and does not infringe human rights and consequently that customary courts should not adjudicate over cases of SGBV. 4. Section 247(3) of the Penal Code Act does not acknowledge marital rape closely tied to customary norms where marriage and dowry payment make a woman the property of the husband.

1.The Anti-GBV Bill, tabled in Parliament in 2019, aimed at reforming and consolidating the law relating to gender based violence including domestic violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence and offences, assault, harassment, harmful customary practices, and child protection; to provide for the protection of victims of gender-based violence; constitute the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Committee; establish the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Fund; to establish the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Court; establish the One Stop Centre also known as Family Protection Centre. Under YW4A, we will advocate for the adoption of this Bill and its enactment. 2. The Family Law Bill provides for marriage, including setting age of marriage at 18 and above, divorce and succession to property including distribution of property in testate and intestate succession. It is in line with regional and international human rights norms and would solve the challenge brought on by the application of customary law. 3. The Transitional Constitution of South Sudan as amended by the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan champions gender equality but allows unwritten customary law and practices and customary courts for each of the 64 tribes significant influence of women, supporting their subordination and discrimination. As the country embarks on the development of a Permanent Constitution, the YW4A programme will engage in the process to (1) advocate for the setting of the minimum age of marriage at 18 in line with the Child Act and other instruments ratified by South Sudan and (2) to define that the applicable customary law is secondary and that which is based on positive customary practices and does not infringe human rights and consequently that customary courts should not adjudicate over cases of SGBV. 4. Section 247(3) of the Penal Code Act does not acknowledge marital rape closely tied to customary norms where marriage and dowry payment make a woman the property of the husband.

The Girl Child Education Bill has been drafted and tabled many times before the Central Equatorial State Legislative Assembly since 2014. The Bill promotes education of the girl child as an affirmative action of the State and provides a legal framework to protect young schoolgirls from sexual abuse, early marriages and early pregnancies. The YW4A programme will advocate for the adoption of the Bill to support the existing legal framework and ensure that the right to education for girls is fulfilled and protected.

The Girl Child Education Bill has been drafted and tabled many times before the Central Equatorial State Legislative Assembly since 2014. The Bill promotes education of the girl child as an affirmative action of the State and provides a legal framework to protect young schoolgirls from sexual abuse, early marriages and early pregnancies. The YW4A programme will advocate for the adoption of the Bill to support the existing legal framework and ensure that the right to education for girls is fulfilled and protected.

South Sudan signed the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and parliament approved the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) but is yet to deposit its instruments of ratification. We will join the advocacy efforts in calling for the ratification of these critical treaties that have immense potential in protecting the rights of women and girls in South Sudan.

South Sudan signed the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and parliament approved the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) but is yet to deposit its instruments of ratification. We will join the advocacy efforts in calling for the ratification of these critical treaties that have immense potential in protecting the rights of women and girls in South Sudan.

Article 16 (4)(a) of the Transitional Constitution read together with Section 110 (3) & (4)(a) of the Local Government Act, 2009 (LGA) mandates all levels of government to promote women participation in public life and their representation in the legislative and executive organs by at least twenty-five per cent as an affirmative action to redress imbalances created by history, customs, and traditions. This position of the constitutional mandate on affirmative action has further been strengthened by Chapter I of Revitalized Agreement Paragraph 1.4.4 which states that “provisions of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan and R-ARCSS on participation of women (35%) in the Executive shall be observed. Under Chapter V of the Agreement and specifically paragraph 5.1.1, upon establishment, the government shall initiate legislation for the establishment of the following transitional justice institutions and observe the 35% women representations in these institutions. Under YW4A, we will call for the implementation of this quota, which has not been met, and encourage young women to take up leadership positions and run for elective office.

Article 16 (4)(a) of the Transitional Constitution read together with Section 110 (3) & (4)(a) of the Local Government Act, 2009 (LGA) mandates all levels of government to promote women participation in public life and their representation in the legislative and executive organs by at least twenty-five per cent as an affirmative action to redress imbalances created by history, customs, and traditions. This position of the constitutional mandate on affirmative action has further been strengthened by Chapter I of Revitalized Agreement Paragraph 1.4.4 which states that “provisions of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan and R-ARCSS on participation of women (35%) in the Executive shall be observed. Under Chapter V of the Agreement and specifically paragraph 5.1.1, upon establishment, the government shall initiate legislation for the establishment of the following transitional justice institutions and observe the 35% women representations in these institutions. Under YW4A, we will call for the implementation of this quota, which has not been met, and encourage young women to take up leadership positions and run for elective office.