Stakeholders call for independent women enterprise fund
An economist has urged South Sudan to establish an autonomous Women Enterprise Development Fund that is not subject to government supervision.
Morris Madut, a Juba University Economics instructor, spoke at the Centre for Inclusive Governance Peace and Justice’s (CIGPJ) Women’s Enterprise Development Fund panel discussion in Juba on Monday.
He urged the creation of a policy framework to govern the creation of the women’s fund, saying “women-run nearly 63 per cent of South Sudan’s small and medium companies (SMEs).”
“We must break down the barriers that keep women from progressing in society, and women must prepare themselves for possibilities that may occur,” he stated.
The transitional government is required by the September 2018 peace accord to establish a fund for the provision of discounted financing for women based on enterprise development and capacity training of women entrepreneurs.
It further stated that the government should identify local, national, sectoral, or private sector institutions with the goal of increasing their productivity or efficiency by strengthening their capacity and making funds more accessible. Madut, on the other hand, argued that financial management skills are crucial for women.
“There is a need to invest in financial management skills to enhance the way funds provided to the various women entrepreneurs will be handled,” he stressed.
The Executive Director of the Centre for Inclusive Governance Peace and Justice (CIGPJ), Jackline Nasiwa, stressed the need to raise awareness among civil society actors and accountable institutions about the necessity of establishing a Women’s Enterprise Development Fund in South Sudan.
“We need to raise awareness among communities in South Sudan on the importance of the Women’s Enterprise Development Fund,” she told the panellists.
The women’s enterprise fund is expected to get up to $100 million. According to studies, 75 per cent of women in South Sudan contributed to family earnings prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to Yolanda Awel Deng, a national legislator.
“The economy was struggling before the pandemic because of the conflict, but then worsened after the coronavirus outbreak,” she explained.
According to Awel, decades of conflict have contributed to integration traumas in the form of PTSD, emotional estrangement, and early dementias.
She stressed that the government should support a mental health policy that is locally geared and implemented towards a society with a destroyed social fabric.
Lack of infrastructure, multiple taxes, insecurity, and a lack of business skills, among other things, were highlighted as major obstacles to the women’s fund’s operation. Increasing insecurity and a deteriorating economic condition in South Sudan are forcing people, primarily women and children, to flee their homes, said Awel.
