Women’s Rights: R-ARCSS
Implementations
Women’s Rights – 2018
No progress observed in 2018.
Women’s Rights – 2019
No progress observed in 2019.
Women’s Rights – 2020
The cabinet of RTGoNU was appointed on March 23rd. The cabinet consists of 36 ministers and 10 deputy ministers. The cabinet should comprise at least 35% of women, according to the R-ARCSS women’s rights provision. Only one female vice president from the FD was appointed. The incumbent government appointed five women ministers and one deputy minister out of 24 ministers and deputy ministers. The SPLM-IO appointed three ministers, and the SSOA appointed one minister. According to the RJMEC report, only 26% of the cabinet members were women.[1]
[1] “RJMEC quarterly report to IGAD on the status of the implementation of R-ARCSS from 1st January to 31st March 2020,” Report No. 6. Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, April 20, 2020.
Women’s Rights – 2021
The cabinet of RTGoNU was appointed on March 23rd. The cabinet consists of 36 ministers and ten deputy ministers. According to the R-ARCSS provision specific to women’s rights, the cabinet should comprise at least 35% of women. Only one woman vice president from the FD was appointed. The incumbent government appointed five women ministers and one deputy minister out of 24 ministers and deputy ministers. The SPLM-IO appointed three ministers, and SSOA (South Sudan Opposition Alliance) appointed one minister. According to the RJMEC report, only 26% of the cabinet members were women.[1]
A total of 32.6% of the 550 members in the reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly were women. In a 100-member Council of States, only 27 or 32.14% were women. Both the Assembly and the Council were reconstituted in May.[2]
[1] “RJMEC quarterly report to IGAD on the status of the implementation of R-ARCSS from 1st January to 31st March 2020,” Report No. 6. Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, April 20, 2020.
[2] South Sudan Transitional National Legislative Assembly. Global data on National Parliament. https://data.ipu.org/node/160/basic-information?chamber_id=13580
Women’s Rights – 2022
Women’s rights were not fully respected. The Revitalized agreement requires at least 35% of representation of women in executive and legislative bodies, which was not met. Only 26% of the cabinet members were women, who comprise 32.6% of the legislative assemblies.[1]
[1] RJMEC report 014/2022; 015/2022; 016/2022; 017/2023.
Women’s Rights – 2023
Women’s rights were not fully respected. The Revitalized agreement requires at least 35% of representation of women in executive and legislative bodies, which was not met. Only 26% of the cabinet members were women, and women only comprised 32.6% in the legislative assemblies.[1]
Further, three major institutions, the Political Parties Council (PPC), the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC), and the National Election Commission (NEC), were reconstituted in 2023. The NEC and NCRC did not meet the gender quota as required in the R-ARCSS. Only one of the nine NEC members is a woman (22%), and only 19 out of 57 (33%) were women in the NCRC.[2]
[1] RJMEC report 014/2022; 015/2022; 016/2022; 017/2023.
[2] RJMEC. 2024. On The Status of Implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. Report No. 021/23 (January 2024)