{"id":88067,"date":"2025-12-16T11:49:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T11:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations"},"modified":"2025-12-16T12:46:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T12:46:42","slug":"gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations","title":{"rendered":"Gender Ministry Launches Family Law Bill Consultations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Sudan. <\/strong><\/span>The South Sudan Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare opened a three-day public participation workshop in Juba on Tuesday to review the Family Law Bill, which aims to address long-standing legal gaps affecting families across the country.<\/p>\n<p>The consultations, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, have drawn government officials, civil society groups, traditional leaders, and development partners to gather public input on proposed reforms to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and child custody laws.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking during the opening of the consultation workshop, Esther Ikere Eluzai, the Undersecretary at the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, described the ongoing public consultations on the Family Law Bill as \u201cthe most awaited\u201d legal process in South Sudan, noting that the country urgently needs the legislation to address long-standing family-related disputes.<\/p>\n<p>Ikere said the bill is \u201cone of the most important legislations in the country,\u201d aimed at closing legal gaps around marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance, and family rights.<\/p>\n<p>She stressed that the absence of a unified family law has left women and children particularly vulnerable, especially in cases of child marriage, forced marriage, domestic violence, and property disputes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we do not have legislation for the basic unit of society, our social fabric becomes loose,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Ikere said the ministry is opening the draft bill for public input for the first time and called for a unified approach, warning against parallel versions of the law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to use one draft and enrich it together, because having different legislations is not good for us,\u201d she emphasised.<\/p>\n<p>She outlined a roadmap that includes incorporating public feedback, lobbying parliament, raising public awareness through radio programs, and submitting the final draft to the Ministry of Justice before it is tabled in parliament.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Brenda Ambani, a Rule of Law Specialist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the public consultation on the Family Law Bill marks a critical step toward strengthening the rule of law and promoting social justice in South Sudan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis bill is not just another piece of legislation, but a cornerstone for building a fair and inclusive society,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n<p>Ambani highlighted that family matters in South Sudan have long been governed by a mix of customary, religious, and statutory laws, creating legal uncertainty, particularly for women, children, and other vulnerable groups.<\/p>\n<p>She said the bill aims to establish clear and uniform legal standards, protect women\u2019s and children\u2019s rights, promote gender equality in marriage, divorce, and inheritance, and harmonise customary and statutory legal systems across the country.<\/p>\n<p>Ambani stressed that the workshop is more than a technical exercise, but a platform for dialogue, inclusivity, and consensus-building, and urged participants to contribute meaningfully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour voices matter, because you are here on behalf of the people of South Sudan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>For her part, Jocelyn Oboy Itorong, Senior Gender Advisor at UN Women, said the Family Law Bill is critical to the everyday lives of South Sudanese families, especially women and girls.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFamily law is not just a matter of legal text; it governs marriages, divorce, inheritance, custody and protection,\u201d she said, noting that strong and equitable laws are essential to ensuring \u201cdignity, equality and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an opportunity to listen, learn, and build consensus around a framework that protects rights and strengthens social cohesion,\u201d Oboy added.<\/p>\n<p>She reaffirmed UN Women\u2019s commitment to supporting the process, saying the bill could become \u201ca foundation for stronger families, healthier communities and a more just and inclusive South Sudan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">South-Sudan<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Sudan. The South Sudan Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare opened a three-day public participation workshop in Juba on Tuesday to review the Family Law Bill, which aims to address long-standing legal gaps affecting families across the country. The consultations, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded by the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":88065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-88067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-south-sudan"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gender Ministry Launches Family Law Bill Consultations - South Sudan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The South Sudan Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare opened a three-day public participation workshop in Juba o ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gender Ministry Launches Family Law Bill Consultations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The South Sudan Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare opened a three-day public participation workshop in Juba o ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Sudan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-16T11:49:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-16T12:46:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2025\/12\/sm_1765876420.330245.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1556\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1167\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Gender Ministry Launches Family Law Bill Consultations\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-16T11:49:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-16T12:46:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations\"},\"wordCount\":606,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2025\/12\/sm_1765876420.330245.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Sudan\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/gender-ministry-launches-family-law-bill-consultations\",\"name\":\"Gender Ministry Launches Family Law Bill Consultations - 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