South Sudan Women Face Barriers to Land Ownership Despite Legal Protections
Women across South Sudan continue to face significant barriers to accessing and owning land despite legal provisions guaranteeing equal rights, participants at a women’s land rights workshop said Thursday.
The concerns were raised during a workshop on mobilizing grassroots women to participate in advocacy for women’s land rights, organized by the Global Empowerment Poverty Alleviation Organization in Juba.
The Chairperson of the Land Alliance said many women remain excluded from land ownership because of cultural practices, limited awareness of land laws and weak enforcement of existing legal protections.
Drabuga Dorothy, executive director of Women Founders for Humanity, said women play a central role in supporting their families and contributing to agricultural production but are often denied opportunities to own or control land.
Moses, a representative of the Global Empowerment Poverty Alleviation Organization, stressed the importance of recognizing and protecting women’s land rights at the community level.
Zahara Said, one of the workshop participants, said women and men should have equal rights and be treated equally because both contribute to supporting their families.
A widow who attended the workshop shared her experience of losing access to her late husband’s property after his death. She said her husband’s family inherited the property while she received only a small amount of money that had been kept in a bank.
Participants called on government institutions, traditional leaders, civil society organizations and communities to work together to promote gender equality in land ownership.
They also urged greater representation of women in land governance and decision-making processes to ensure that women’s rights are recognized and protected.
