Oct 15, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — Women who engage in small-scale businesses in northern Bahr el Ghazal, South Sudan share some of the challenges they experience in their businesses.
According to a statement released by UNMISS, 40 percent of small-scale food businesses in northern Bahr el Ghazal, South Sudan are owned and run by women.
The report indicated that these businesses range from tea stalls and fresh produce stores to restaurants.
A UNMISS forum brought together 19 women entrepreneurs who revealed that price hikes in commodities and lack of proper roads adversely affect their capacity to maximize earnings.
“I have been running a café for five years,” said Aduada Kuot Aguer, a participant. “Peace, security and physical infrastructure that connects us to nearby areas are essential for us as businesswomen, especially after the setbacks caused by COVID19.”
The United Nations women had earlier reported on how the implementation of COVID-19 rules which included social distancing rules, curfews and the closure of non-essential business has had a drastic impact on small businesses, especially in the informal sector where women constitute the majority of the workforce.
UN Women in partnership with Change Agency Organization (CAO) has been running a livelihood and gender-based violence protection programme to help women like Raman grow their small businesses.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Women shifted its gears to support women during the ongoing crisis.
“UN Women in South Sudan continues to provide training to women on business management, and also on diversifying their businesses to create products that can continue to sell even in the context of COVID-19,” said UN Women Deputy Country Representative Paulina Chiwangu. “UN Women is currently supporting 52 all-women tailoring groups to produce masks, in this way women are not only earning income from selling face masks, but they are directly contributing to efforts aimed at preventing further spread of COVID-19”.
