51-year-old widow Jenty Peter Natie and 35-year-old Viles Mamur at a community poultry farm in Gudele, Juba | Credit | Charles Wote/Eye Radio

Women leaders are calling on the national government to establish the Women Enterprise Development Fund as prescribed in the revitalized peace agreement.

According to the September 2018 deal, the transitional government shall establish the fund for provision of subsidized credit for women-based enterprise development and capacity building of women entrepreneurs.

It also stipulates that the new unity government shall identify local, national, sectoral or private sector associations with the view to improving their productivity or efficiency through capacity enhancement and easing access to financing.

Theresa Cirisio, chairperson of South Sudan women, peace, security, monitoring and advocacy group, says its establishment should be expedited to help empower women economically.

“It is very unfortunate that people don’t get salaries for seven, three or six months. The burden is on who? It is on the women, who runs up and down very early in the morning to feed her children,” she said on Eye Radio’s Dawn shown.

“And that’s why I call upon our president to see to it that this entrepreneurship fund is established.”

The peace deal further says the government should develop Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises among rural populations and the urban poor, including but not limited to South Sudan farmers associations, dairy producers associations, poultry producers associations, national private companies in the areas of supply, general trade, construction, and others.