Human Rights Defender of the Month: Aluel Atem

Aluel Atem is an ambitious woman activist from South Sudan who plays a vital role in the promotion of women’s rights in the country. However, life as an outspoken feminist in a patriarchal country is not a walk in the park. “It’s not only about being a female, but a young female. You get undermined for being a woman in all-man spaces, and for being young in older spaces,” Aluel explains.

Since the civil war erupted in December 2013, the situation for women in South Sudan has worsened, Aluel explains. “We have had a lot of conflict in South Sudan, which is not going to be solved very soon. We have a lot of conflict that’s historical – going deep.”

To promote women’s rights amid the long-standing and brutal conflict, Aluel co-founded Crown the Woman, an organisation focusing on raising awareness about sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and fostering female leadership and mentorship for in South Sudan. She also represents South Sudanese Women at the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) board.

“We’re not having constructive conversations about gender in South Sudan. Women get harassed and beaten for simply attempting to break away from the cycle. Information is key, and I think that’s something that’s lacking,” she says, while stressing that culture and norms are not valid justifications to treat women inhumanly

We’re not having constructive conversations about gender in South Sudan. Women get harassed and beaten for simply attempting to break away from the cycle. Information is key, and I think that’s something that’s lacking.

In 2017, she took part in the development of South Sudan’s National Action Plan 2030 on ending child, early, and forced marriage. The country was one of the 21 African countries which committed themselves to ending child marriage by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), when African Ministers of Education and Health gathered for a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa in 2013.  

In addition to women’s rights, Aluel is passionate about boosting South Sudan’s young generation. She stresses that the unawareness of female role models damages young people, especially girls and young women. “We have a lot of influential South Sudanese women, but young women do not know about them because they are not documented and talked about often enough.”

South Sudan has signed many regional and international legal instruments relevant to women’s rights. Aluel highlights that regional and international bodies to put more pressure on the South Sudanese Government, using frameworks like the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 among others. “The instruments have become a piece of paper. South Sudan should be held accountable for their violations.”

We have a lot of influential South Sudanese women, but young women do not know about them because they are not documented and talked about often enough.

In addition to her work at the national level, she is an active advocate at regional and international fora. In 2019, Aluel took part in the UN Human Rights Council session as one of DefendDefenders’ delegates, where she highlighted the human rights situation in her country. She trains globally on conflict and gender transformation skills.

“There’s an idea that people fighting for human rights shouldn’t be women, it’s like women’s rights and human rights are two different things. Once, in a high-level meeting where I challenged men on their attitudes and perceptions on women, a man later pulled me aside and said that ‘you are not married and you are young, so you don’t understand.’” She refers to a generational gap in South Sudan, whereas young people are excluded from peace and decision-making processes amid the transition. “People are not finding creative ways to include young people and bridge the age gap,” she says. “Young South Sudanese need mentorship and dialogue.”

As for what keeps her motivated, her reasons seem clear: “the women themselves! The energy that South Sudanese women have, the commitment they have, despite the situation, is a motivation. It’s so many women and young people working so hard every day, so I know that I’m not alone.”

Visit Aluel Atem’s website, and follow her on Twitter and Facebook

See more HRDs of the Month

Human Rights Defender of the month: Omar Faruk Osman

Omar Faruk’s career, and the passion that drove it, were the product of his circumstances. He was born in 1976, in the first of strong man Mohamed Siad Barre’s two-decade rule over Somalia, which was characterized by gross rights abuses and barely existent civic space. He came of age in the 90s when those abuses and rights violations were peaking, as his country was engulfed by a ruinous civil war following the collapse of the Siad Barre dictatorship.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Rita Kahsay

When the Ethiopian Federal Government representatives and those of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a peace agreement in Pretoria, in November last year, the two parties were hailed for ending arguably the deadliest conflict of the 21st century, in which over 600,000 people had died.
But long before the negotiators for peace got around to an agreement, there were many other unsung heroes, who, through individual and collective efforts helped sustain the world’s gaze on the dire situation in Tigray, despite the Ethiopian Government’s determined efforts to hush it up.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Godfrey Kagaayi

Born 33 years ago, in Bukoba, northern Tanzania, Godfrey Kagaayi did not have to look elsewhere for inspiration to tackle the daunting challenge of mental health. By his own admission, the family and community in which he was raised were fertile grounds for the same.
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Human Rights Defender of the month: Hiader Abdalla Abu Gaid

Hiader Abdalla Abu Gaid is one of the lucky survivors of Sudan’s latest conflict.

He was born 36 years ago, in Almalha locality, North Darfur state, the third born in a family of 10. Then, Darfur was not the hot bed of war and conflict it has since become infamous for. Although the region, predominantly inhabited by Sudan’s black population remained segregated by the predominantly Arab government in Khartoum, its people co-existed in thriving, predominantly subsistence communities. In Almalha, people reared camels and cattle, while others tended crops. The community was also famed for its hospitality to strangers, welcoming outsiders who ended up staying, owning land, and intermarrying with their hosts.

Human Rights Defender of the month:Immaculate Nabwire and Daphne Nakabugo

In personality, Immaculate Nabwire and Daphne Nakabugo could not be more different. Where the former is loud, if free-spirited, and mischievous, the latter is quiet, reticent, and predominantly solitary. Together though, they are the quiet champions behind DefendDefenders’ digital skilling programs, equipping (women) human rights defenders with critically transformative – and sometimes, life-saving digital tools and skills.
“You’ll be surprised how many people out there, including the literate are not exposed to the idea of digital safety. And as technology gets more advanced, it is getting ever more lucrative for hackers and other malign actors, which means that the urgency of the need for digital security skills for everyone cannot be over-stated,” says Daphne.

Human Rights Defender of the month:Mary Pais Da Silva

On 17 February 2023, in Ethiopia’s rustic resort of Bishoftu, more than 5000Km from her homeland, Mary Da Silva was announced winner of the 2023 AfricanDefenders Shield Award, in the presence of hundreds of colleague human rights defenders from 36 African countries. It was a fitting validation for the Eswatini human rights lawyer, whose sense of empathy and sensitivity to injustice has been a defining hallmark of her career.
Born 45 years ago in Lubombo, eastern Eswatini, the last of 4 siblings, Mary attributes her values to her upbringing. Although she was born in Eswatini, her parents are originally from Mozambique, and only relocated to eSwatini at the start of the Mozambican civil war that lasted between 1977-1992, which ravaged families and displaced many others.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Jane Naini Meriwas

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It is in this community that Jane Naini Meriwas was born 46 years ago, in Kipsing village, Oldonyiro Subcounty, Isiolo County. When she was 16, her mother passed on, and she watched with great trepidation as her father planned to marry another wife, not sure what that would mean for her or her ambitions for school. As it turned out, fate was on her side. When her father uncharacteristically asked what she thought of his plans, Jane seized the opportunity to stand up for herself and interests:

Human Rights Defender of the month: Kasale Maleton Mwaana

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“Our people’s struggle goes back many generations. It started with the pushing out of our forefathers from Serengeti to gazette Serengeti National Park in 1959, and then further evictions from the Ngorongoro crater to gazette the Ngorongoro conservation area in 1975. Since then, every generation has had to resist further evictions. It’s now my generation’s turn,” he says.

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