Sudan

The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) pledged on Tuesday to legislate and enforce specific laws against gender-based violence after media reports indicated last week that a girl was beaten to death by a relative in Rumbek North County, Lakes state, over a disputed marital gift.

Female members of the Islamic opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) in North Sudan claimed they were assaulted on Wednesday by the country's security authorities as they gathered to deliver a petition against the detention of fellow party members.

The South Sudanese media has been urged to promote gender issues in its reporting.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) made the call during the closing of a workshop for journalists in Juba today.

The training on conflict sensitive reporting benefitted 18 journalists from different media houses in Central Equatoria State.

Overall the largest gains for women in Africa have been in states experiencing post-conflict transition, particularly because it allows for a complete restructuring of the government and constitution. Leading up to July's official secession date, many women in South Sudan have recognized this opportunity to mobilize and are leading the way in the push toward gender inclusion and female rights in the new state.

Speaking at the inauguration of the first power generation and distribution system in Kapoeta on Friday February 4, the chairperson of Kapoeta South Women Association Regina Fulgensio urged the Government of Southern Sudan to support women to venture into income-generating activities.

In order to ensure gender-sensitive civic and voter registration in the lead up to and during the polling in January, UN Women provided substantive support to the Government of South Sudan, the SSRC, the South Sudan Referendum Bureau (SSRB) as well as to 37 civil society organizations in the region.

Southern Sudan's Interim Constitution, which came into effect in 2005, stipulates a 25 percent quota for women's participation across all levels of regional and national government. Six years later, in the wake of a referendum that will give the south full independence, women hold 19 percent of the positions in the south's legislative assembly.

The referendum is taking place from January 9 to 15 January, but official turnout figures are not expected until the beginning of February.

The outcome, which is largely expected to result in an independent South, will have an enormous impact in both the South and the North.

The results of Southern Sudan's referendum on secession from the North now seem apparent. According to the first complete results, around 99 per cent of the South Sudanese population which voted has done so in favour of separation. This marks one of the final stages of the historic 2005 agreement to end the long-standing conflict between North and South Sudan.

The recent launch of the new U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, or U.N. Women, on New Year's Day provides the perfect opportunity for the United Nations to take action on this issue. The United Nations must acknowledge that justice for survivors of gender-based violence is a critical element of a peaceful outcome in Sudan and not just a "gender issue."