Ep. 042: Riya Yuyada

Achievements: Founder of Crown The Woman - South Sudan, Co-founder of PLAY FOR PEACE SOUTH SUDAN, Technical support to the South Sudan High Level Revitalization(HLRF) forum peace talks and a TedX Kakuma refugee camp 2018 speaker and recently initiated a campaign #BornToLead/women at the frontlines/NuswanGidaam, which is advocating for women’s inclusion at all levels of leadership and defining peace. She also writes with the AfricanFeminism. Riya has addressed the UN General Assembly in 2018 in New York!

NATIONALITY: SOUTH SUDANESE

Riya William Yuyada is a 28-year-old South Sudanese woman who is passionate about peace and women’s human rights. She is best known for her role in peace building in schools and communities and also being part of the South Sudan HLRF (High Level Revitalization forum) peace process. Having worked as a Civic Education Officer, she recalled an experience where an elderly woman of about 80 years told her that she was too young to preach about peace because she didn’t know what had happened to them. Riya then started working with children teaching them peaceful co-existence through games. She realized that it was easier to convince a child to choose peace than an adult. She then decided to invest her energy in children through play for peace South Sudan, an initiative she co-founded that promotes peace using games.

However, with the ongoing war situation in her country, schools are always closing and reopening which makes her work on and off and difficult. She then realized the only way to reach the children was through empowering their mothers and the girl child socially, politically and economically given the fact that women are still not given opportunities especially in education, decision making and representation hence initiating the birth of Crown The Woman-South Sudan, a women founded and led national grassroots feminist organization that aims at addressing women’s issues to foster a future with zero tolerance for inequality, inequity, injustices and any other community vice that affect women and children, an organization she founded with 6 other young South Sudanese women in 2016.

Riya is an alumna of the 2019 International Global leadership institute (IGLI) at the University of Denver in partnership with the US State Institute for Peace (USIP), the 2019 European Parliament Sakharov fellowship and alumna of the 2019 Venice school of human rights in Italy, the 2018 Women’s Human Rights Institute at the university of Toronto, the 2017 Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership program (IVLP) on education and women’s activism, the 2016 Young African Leadership Program, the Feminist Leadership, Movement Building and Rights Institute East Africa, the 2015 Nobel Women’s Initiative’s Sister-to-Sister Mentorship program in Canada, a fellow of Akilidada Washa program and a 2019 fellow with the women peace and security program by the University of Columbia. Riya is a member of the African women leaders network.

Contact:

Email: riyawilliamsyuyada@gmail.com

Twitter: @theonlyriya1

Transcript

Susan: Riya, thanks for joining us on The Peacebuilding Podcast. It is a pleasure and honor to have you I'm, you know, especially happy when I get, you know, just really interesting young women who are doing great work in the world on this podcast to give them a platform to talk about what the work that they're doing. So thank you for joining us. 

Riya: Thank you for having me. 

Susan: I wonder if you could just launch in and you tell I mean, I'm yes, you know, I'm going to have read your bio, by the time you know, I read the bio in the intro, but it'd be great to hear something about you who you are, where you come from, yeah, and how you've gotten here today to this interview.

Riya: Okay, thank you so much Susan for having me here. And I'm humbled to be speaking with you today. My name is Riya William Yuyada. I come from South Sudan. And I am a women's human rights activist. And basically, what I do is to amplify women's voices, speak up on women's issues, and also advocate for peace because I come from South Sudan, a country that has that is only eight years old, but has not known peace for a long time. So we we've got our independence from Sudan, mid 2011. And the excitement that we had is not the same as today. Because as soon as we got independence, we went back to work twice, 2013 and 2016. So you can see why we do peace work. We want to have our country be stable, and also be at peace, where everyone is happy and where everyone feels at peace in mind, body and spirit doing not just within the country, but also within. So I, Riya, am a peace activist and a women's right activist.

Susan: Coud you... I mean, I think I told you that I have been in South Sudan a couple of times. So I, I mean, I've only I've been in Juba, and I've been in Torit the two places I've been, I was there with the UN. And I have some sense of your country. But I wonder, you know, gosh, one of the images that stands out to me when I think when I first arrived in Juba was a huge, very dusty, a huge, a huge pile of empty water bottles. And a young girl, very, very thin, teenage girls sitting nearby just with her head in her hands. And that image just somehow it's has stayed with me of kind of our modern world and some of what's happening for some people on the planet. And I wonder if you could tell us a bit about your background, what life has been like for you, your you know, where you come from, in South Sudan. And just a little bit of background on you would be really super interesting.

Riya: Oh, wow. I think if I said anything about me, it will take like the whole day but I'll make it short. About where I come from, I come from Western Equatoria in a small village called Mundri. I am from an ethnic tribe called the Murus. So I am a Muru And but I have spent most of my time in Uganda. So we had to escape with my mom and sister to Uganda when I was a few months old to go take refuge in Uganda. And when we're there, that's where I was raised up. And my mom is Ugandan. And my dad is South Sudanese. So my mom met my dad in South Sudan. And so when the tension started in South Sudan, my mom asked my dad to leave for Uganda for she felt was safer but my dad, I have never been there. I won't go with you. Please go with the kids. Take care of yourselves, if god wishes, we'll meet one day. But I've also had conversations with my aunties. And they tell me because of the tension, people are running to different parts of the world, because I have I have cousins and nieces all over the world. So the family was that time escaping to Khartoum but my mom said she cannot go to ...

Susan: Khartoum is in Sudan itself, right?

Riya: Yeah, in Sudan, so and so that's how we ended up in Uganda. And I was having a conversation with my older auntie. And I was asking, how come you guys raced to Khartoum and up one day to Nairobi and then to other places? The other one in Australia, in the US and how come my mom and my sister and myself didn't join you? And she said, well, we asked your Mom to stay but she couldn't stay. So she opted for Uganda. And we couldn't stop her from going but the best we did was pray for her. And hope that one day we will meet. And my auntie was like I told her, you know, God, God has put it this way. And I believe the same God one day will make us meet. And I remember when we're having that conversation, I cried, because finally we were together. And it felt good. So yeah, I spent my childhood in Uganda. And it was a tough life. Because we moved from one refugee camp to another and then finally we settled in Kampala. But life was not the best.

Susan: So you were in a refugee camp in Uganda?

Riya: In the beginning, we went to a camp in near Congo called Aru, a place called Aru. And then we went to Adjumani. And then we went to Arua. And then we went to Kampala. So it was move, move, move. And yeah, so I studied in Uganda, raised in Uganda. And as soon as I finished my...  The first time I finished my high school, I came to South Sudan with my father. He came later and looked for us and found us. And that's how he put us to school. And then after my high school we came back to South Sudan. And just as you say Sudan that you see bottles and dust and ruin that is what exactly so because we came through Arua through Koboko and then to Juba, it was a long journey. It was very long because we kept talking and sleeping by the roadside, and then getting into another car and hitting the road. And but the beauty in that was coming home, I was like, Oh, this is home. You know, there were no buildings like today. No, it was just empty, empty land. You're like one hut here. And then another happened later on, like that. But when I came to Juba, that was around 2004. It was, I was like, no, this is different from Uganda, you know, this is, this is like a ruin. But what I liked about it was the people, you know, like my, some of my Dad’s relatives stayed behind during the crisis. And my dad would take me around showing me, this is my uncle, this is my cousin, these are my relatives. And when we visited, it was different. I mean, you go into a house, and you see people don't have food, you see a sign of no food, when they quickly fix for you something to eat. They bring for you drinks. They slaughter chicken to welcome you. It felt good. I mean, it felt like home. And I was like, even when it is empty like this, it is where I belong. It is home. Then I went back to Uganda because I have to finish my school. And then I kept on coming back and forth, back and forth. And finally I thought in 2013, after my university, and I went back to my village in Mundri and I was volunteering there, helping IDP’s – internally displaced people, encouraging them pick up peace, to think about peace rather than war. Because if we keep on thinking about war, we are going to end up in another camp, and we will not ever be home again. And yeah, so I've been that's what I've been doing. I came back home finally.

Susan: Thank you so much for sharing all that. Do you mind me asking you how old you are? 

Riya: I'm 28. 

Susan: You're 28. Wow. And what inspired you... what inspired you to actually think about building peace and focusing on that? And then also would love to hear about Crown the Woman, the nonprofit that you founded? Correct? And tell us about that as well?

Riya: Well, I get my peace inspirations from so many things. As I am a war child. My grandmother originally came from Rwanda. And Rwanda was known for war. And then she settled in Uganda in an area called Mbarara and then she moved to Kampala, and then she met her husband, the father to my mother. And then they give back my mother. But then my mother also there was some crisis in Uganda, Northern Uganda. And my mom ran to Juba and to like, make ends meet, to struggle and hustle. And then she met my dad. So I call myself a war child. Because I have known war. My mom has known war. My grandma has known war. But what inspires me to do my work is a lot of things. Growing up away from home, away from family. I mean, I remember when I was a child, and I was in school, I would ask my mom, where is my dad, and my mom would be like, he's dead because she had lost hope. She thought he had died. Because the state at which we left was something she has no hope about. So I leave that my dad is dead. And also, at some point in school when people would like be asking, Where are you from? I'm from South Sudan. I'm from Sudan. And they'll say, but why are they fighting? I was a child and I'm like but I'm not fighting. I'm not killing anyone you know, but you saw it was such a situation made me ask we're fighting? What is happening? So what is fighting? And, of course it is tough and also interacting with different refugee kids, because I spent most of my life with so many refugee kids. And even hearing what is happening back home would leave you frustrated and devastated. Things like that. So finally, when I went back to South Sudan, I was like this home, and we have to, we have to work together.

And so I go back to South Sudan. I go to Mundri in 2013. And I was there 2014. And I was volunteering with this organization called Mundri Relief and [...] Association. And I was, I was in the peace, in the peace state, I don't know how it happened, but my direct [...] so once and put stuff and medicines to Internally Displace people, but we don't want to just give them food. What do you think you can do? So I said, Well, I think I can speak to them. I think I can tell them about peace. I didn't even know what peace was. I was thinking I knew about peace. But I actually found out later that I don't know what peace was 'cuz everyone defined peace in their own way. So I would go to the internally displaced camps and talk to people about these... tell them you know what, let us stop fighting. Let us love one another because it's bad to keep on waiting for handouts that come after a long time. We make up today. And I remember my experience from that time was this old woman, I think she was about 80 years old. And as I talked about peace to her, she caught up in the crowd and say, my daughter, you are too young. You don't know a thing about peace. You know, you don't know what we have gone through. You don't know how we have suffered this people have killed us. They've killed our children. [...] And that moment, I was like, okay, Riya, you are not actually doing peace work. Because you're not convincing these people you know. And so I stepped aside, I felt hopeless for a moment. But then I got some inner strength and I told her grandmother, I understand your frustration, I feel your pain. But for how long shall we keep on staying internally displaced camp waiting for people like us to give food and other services is difficult. But if we have peace, we're able to farm, we're able to go back to our houses. We're able to live peacefully with others. And she looked at me and she said, you are right, my daughter, we actually have to live together. We have to forgive one another. And then she say, I bless you. May you continue being our voice. And that for me was I felt like it was a blessing that has never left me. And it gets very encouraging me to continue to evolve. And also I will go to school .... [...]

But then again, there was a crisis in my village in Mundri and we had to run away. We had run to Juba. And when I was in Juba, I had a chance to attend a workshop that was organized by Play for Peace International. And I was like, I asked my colleagues, and I'm like, you know, South Sudan is still a very young country. We have not known peace, we've had our country, we had war in 2013, why don't we start an initiative from what is [...] as well. So we started, we co-founded Play for Peace South Sudan, an initiative that promotes peace in communities using local games.

Susan: Sorry.. using what?

Riya: Local games, playing, so what that means is we would move from one village to another,. from one place to another, picking games within communities and then plan those community games and then share them with other communities. Because one of the biggest challenges we have in South Sudan is tribalism like one tribe fighting another or one tribe being against the other tribe, which is also I believe one of the  [...] war. So we felt like you know what, let us that tribes can love one another. Tribes can appreciate one another. So we moved from places like Yei, Juba, Bor learning different games and teaching them to the communities, the youth and the children. And it was very nice because it was a time that children felt like children again, you know, and when they played, they would laugh. They would, they would tell stories. It was like a moment of children being children again. And also for me, coming from that old woman who told me my daughter, you are too young, who are you to tell us about peace? You don't know what we have gone through. And then playing with children through play for peace initiative, it was interesting because if you tell a child dance like this, the child would dance. You tell the child, say "A", the child will say "A". When you tell the child, sing, the child would sing without even asking or telling you this is not [...] so I felt like promoting peace in children and youth was the right thing. And also, for me, I felt like it was planting a seed because as a child, when you teach a child that he knows and certain ways of life, they grow up with that. Whereas the older people like the old woman I have met was difficult to convince about peace. So yeah, we did that. We did play for peace, and it was very nice. Then 2016 crisis happened. And we lost so many of our children, like the schools where we used to play in, the children are not there anymore. Most of them have been displaced and internally displaced camp. The teachers were not there because they couldn't teach. They said they were not being paid. Who are we teaching? And so our schools, they became empty and our activities went down. And it also filled a space where children needs to play with, what happened?. And we did something a simple solidarity for [...]. So this was we went to the school where we used to play and showing the children has solidarity with you even with this. We can do this together. We're in this together. And having conversations with children, I remember a child writing a letter, two letters. We still have them somewhere archived. And the student was saying,  I want a school where I can play football, where I don't have to hear a gunshot. And this coming from a child was different. It broke my heart, you know, we give them pens, papers and books. And we told them to draw what they felt. And you see children drawing like a pregnant woman lying down on the floor with blood all over the woman. And I was like if a child goes through this, this is trauma, you know, this is trauma. So we need to do a lot. And then I kept on like, my motivation for peace kept on changing and changing. And I was like, what is it that I can do? And so through my work, I was able to be recognized by... I was nominated to go to a program with the Nobel Women's Initiative in Canada, and I was there for a mentorship program. 

Susan: Can you say that one more time... what was it called, the organization in Canada?

Riya: The Nobel Women's Initiative. It's an organization that was founded by the women who have won the Nobel Prize. 

Yeah. So from there, of course, I got more passionate about peace. And I learned a lot. And I was like, I have to do more for my country. And then as I got exposed, I also realized that there were fewer South Sudanese women in the outside, like when I go to like conferences, or find like myself, the only South Sudanese woman, and I'm like, why I wish there are like 10,000 South Sudanese women, we could push our agenda and raise our issues, that [...] is women. So we need to do a lot. And so I in 2016, I was in Brazil, it was the Nobel Women that took me there for a conference with Association of Women in Development, and still like on myself, the only South Sudanese woman. And I was like, oh, I need to do something for many South Sudanese women, I feel like we need to bring as many [...]. So I told them, I want to start a women organization, I feel like I want to empower women, I feel like, I feel like if we support women, the children that we're putting back on that display, it will be able to be supported by their mothers. So that I kept on pushing me and pushing me. And also, I have been, I am a woman, I have seen a lot of struggle. I have seen my mom struggle with mental health. I have seen, I've seen women die in giving birth. And I was like, you know what, I think the best way to empower a child is through empowering women. If we have women in decision-making processes, if we have women leading, if we have women having the economic power, then I think South Sudan would be in a better place. And so immediately, I texted a friend of mine. And I was like, hey, I want to start a women’s organization? You want to join me? And at first I was like, no, I don't want to, you know, I don't have passion for that. My passion is in the children. I don't think I can do women work and things like that. But finally she said yes. And then we got other sisters on board. And we started Crown The Woman. And so I decided I'm going to focus, I'm going to give my energies on women peace and security, on empowering women to be agents of change, to be those voices for children. And I was playing with that. And so since then, and now I'm focusing on women, and for me, I believe that is my piece of this. Yeah, so I do my peace work because of different struggles I have gone through that I do not want to see other girls and women go through.

I also do my peace work because I feel like it's an obligation for me to do it. For others to enjoy the peace I never enjoyed. Because I kept on moving from one place to another, from my country to another country, from one house to another. It was I was looking. And if South Sudan has peace now, I don't think they would go through what many of us went through.

Susan: So Riya, thank you for telling that story. I have so many questions. But of course, we try to keep it within our timeframe. So let me ask you, if you could you tell me, simply because this is a complicated question. But your simple understanding of what the war has been about in South Sudan?

Riya: I do not have a direct answer to that because I feel like everyone is, I mean, there are different layers to our war in s Sudan. We have, we have this war, that was initiated by the political leaders. And I can say that war was maybe the heightened because of power struggle. And then at the grassroots level, we have different forms of conflict. We have the communal conflict, like conflict between farming communities, and pastorialist community. So I don't have a direct answer to your question. But at a national level, I feel like it's a power struggle war between different political parties before it was that it broke out, it broke, it broke out from a land that is a Sudan people liberation movement, then it broke out to SLM in  opposition, and then to other smaller faction. So I can say, it's a political struggle war.

Susan: And let me ask you, let me ask you this. Because I think, you know, our planet is becoming much smaller very quickly. And everything is connected to everything else, if you will. And I guess the question is, you know, South Sudan does not exist in a vacuum. And, and I'm speaking to you as an American as somebody, a woman from the United States. What do you, in what ways do you see this as being a global conflict? Or do you?

Riya: Well, I would say our war is not only a South Sudanese war, I feel like everyone is having a hand in it. I mean, I mean, why I said that? I mean, a war, if it's only a South Sudan conflict, it would have stopped. Because if I look at South Sudan, we're a country of 13 million people. And also we do not manufacture guns. But we have, like, so many guns, and so many weapons in the country. And then I asked myself, where do these guns come from? Who is supplying these guns? And when I say it's a global war, then the people who also responsible for that, who, like posting, like, our conflict was the 14 different parties. I think that was responsible for that, for that conflict. When I say we have like the global community, we have the international community that is supposed to come in, we have different countries like the US, we have different countries like the UK, we have even the UN supposed to come in to stop this war. And if they do not play their role, that is affecting people, then I feel they're also responsible for this. Because if you cannot, you cannot promote peace then you are promoting war . So yes, I feel like now it's becoming a global war with everyone coming in and in different angles and different styles. So, yeah, I will just stop there and say I feel like our war is beyond South Sudan as well.

Susan: So I want to get back to women. And if I can, you know, I'm curious, in your mind, do women have as much power as men in South Sudan?

Riya: I feel we have power, but I feel our power is taken away or hidden somewhere. Yeah, I mean, I can say we have power as women in South Sudan, power to create change. Why I say this is because I was part of just recently concluded the High Level Revitalization forum that was convened by Ego of NATO governmental authority on development. And this authority has different countries like Uganda, Kenya, and all these other countries. And I remember when, when the 2013 happened, there was a peace agreement that was signed. And of course, there were women that struggled to ensure that the government was but that is our remaining on last night, then we went back. And from there, we organize our

Susan: started, how many women were at the negotiating table for those agreements?

Riya: Well, I am not so certain now with the numbers. But I can say in 2015, there were fewer women. But it's interesting, the number increase I think, in 20 2015, the one below their current one, they're more than more than more than

Susan: And what's the total number? So what percentage of people were women at the negotiating table?

Riya: Well, I have a statistic somewhere, but I'm losing the count.

Susan: Sorry, you have a rough idea?

Riya: What I can say more than more than 25?

Susan: More than 25%. Okay, okay.

Riya: Yeah. So we're talking about the power that women have. And so we women organize ourselves and say, you know, what we've had enough of the war we want peace and one thing that is interesting about us women is that war is started, but women can organize themselves and mobilize them selves to bring peace, so to bring that is that is power, you know. And so we have been as go through different different movement and through different Coalition's are part of the Coalition for the Council on Women Coalition for peace. And we had a female delegate, we had to exercise the delegates as well. But I was on the technical side.

While I was on the technical team, 14 a delegate, the women delegates and the delegates in the room. And what we did, basically was to put them in all the ways that they needed, which were the perfect person. Well, at some point, we're in corridors lobbying and meeting influence that we felt was a process and in the process, and in a good way. At another point we were in a kitchen, we call this the kitchen, cooking ideas and working together, working together to come up with ideas that would support the process, for example, when document will be tested in the process, a document of about 100 pages that needed to be signed, like the next day, and of course, you cannot find what you're not sure, but it will send us those documents, and we could look into them. And we would engender them try to make it useful, try to ensure that a document every else that is out there, and also we could mobilize others S Sudanes is going north in this Addis Ababa.

And we would share with them what is happening in this process. And we could collect their views and ideas and share feedback to the delegates in the room. But that's the power I saw in women was around 2017 when things were not going well. Women we organize ourselves and had a silent march. So all we wanted peace now. Nothing, nothing less,

Susan: sort of, sort of like what Leymah did in Liberia?

Riya: Yes, yes. And so we've  got it also. So more inclusion of women, we kept on pushing

Susan: across tribal lines?

Riya: Yes, we kept them. I mean, our coalition was with, they've asked in a state that every we ensure that we improve process and create change. So after that march, we saw more women being part of the process. Also, we kept on pushing through statement through later to include more women and because of us I saw that we will we were able to have been a pastime of female and female mediator that is connected. So you can see the power than women bring. And I mean, it was also women being part of the process, this book from a human point of view, they didn't know well, the other one, the parties are talking about percentage or sharing of power for this party should have the party or the party should have that share of the cake. That woman was talking about wishes to stop fighting, where we fighting, what are the causes of the war. Stop killing us, stop killing our children, our husband, and I think that humanity created some sort of change in the process. So I can say women have power, and we still have a lot of power to change a lot of things. And what is happening is because I remember at some point, also, we could speak to these warring parties and tell them stop fighting, we want peace  and they were not listening, and then the women would cry. And would like, if you don't do this, we're going to undress you don't do it. And you'll be like, Oh, it's okay. Your mother, you know, and even the men will be like, I am a son of a woman. So I promise I'm going to stop fighting. So I say women, we have a lot of power. And when I say sometimes the power is taken away, is because of so many reasons. For example, when, of course society notices women are getting power, then they start taking it away, they start oppressing you, by saying you belong to the kitchen, or you do not have the capacity, or you don't belong here, or you don’t hold the gun to fight so stay away in the out of the process. But yeah, with all the things is part of life, and we feel we use our power as women to create change in our country.

Susan: So you speak so beautifully. We are I'm going to keep to it just maybe one more question. And maybe you have something else that you really want to say. But it's more of a personal question. Because I know myself, I mean, I'm a lot older than you. And the you know, the process of actually undoing patriarchy out of my cell structure has been a lifelong process. That I feel like it's worth my own effort. But also I realized every bit of work I do it actually, I think it frees up other women around me and men too, because I have a son. So I guess the personal question for you is, if you will reflect on your own internal struggle, that you might have may or may not have to actually free yourself from any of the ways that the culture has made you feel less than?

Riya: Well, that is a nice question. So I wanted to stay patriarchy is entrenched in our society, so deep not only men, but even women who don’t realize we carry patriarchy with us. Personally, I have had struggles as a girl. I mean, he said, if it's one thing to be a woman in South Sudan, but it's also another to be a young woman in South Sudan, who is being vocal and, and wants to see change, you know, the first thing, society expects you to go to school, finish school and get married. You know, when you start, when you start being vocal or questioning the status quo, then you become, you become a threat to many people and you're taught to shut up, you're told women don't speak like that you're told is not in our culture for women to do this. We meant to do this, you know. Recently, we launched a campaign called South Sudanese women and girls are Born to Lead. And is the deliberate campaign because of pain, we have failed as women and girls from the nation. And this campaign born to lead on this one comes from the pains of some of the things we have had or been taught, even in processes such as the peace process we're part of, I remember when when Addis Ababa and when in Khartoum, when women would say, you know, what, we want to see more women at a table, we want to discuss, why are we fighting, we want to stop this war, and we want to be part of his leadership, we want to be also part of this decision making process. And then most men will be like, what do these women think they are, you know, you women do think you can lead, you think you have the power to hold the guns, you think you have the capacity, you don't have the You don't even have the capacity, you know, you don't belong here, some of them would even go as far as saying you belong to the kitchen. And so I there is a film we did around that you can go on YouTube, if you if you if you if you google South Sudanese women born to lead you will see it there. It just talked about I was sharing my sentiment over how we looked at as women and girls, as a young girl, you're looked at as you as an income generating person, as you grow up, ripe for marriage. Whereas if you are a boy those things are be the leader is going to be the president, which is what your role as the woman is to cook and not to lead. And so we're just basically showing them that What does leadership mean? What peace even mean? So in this, born to lead, I basically was I was showing people that for me, I women, we need to start defining what leadership is, we need to start defining what kind of peace we want. Because if we leave other people, specifically the men to define for us what peace is, we're never going to have the durable peace that we want. So I took a journey moving around South Sudan. in areas like Akobo in Rebecca in Wau, in Juba, speaking to different women and Belle, I asked them a few questions like What does this mean to you? What does leadership mean to you? And how can we bring peace to our country? And I'm telling you, Susan, I have different definitions for peace now. Now, you know, you know, beginning I told you, I thought I knew what this was, but I am learning that. I don't know what this is. And for me, peace is defined from each past on view, and how they define peace. So when I spoke to different women, I spoke to women, for example, like know, a group of women who are, who are doing peace work. So they're called Global women Association for peace. And these women move from village to village, mobilizing youth mobilizing people to put down their gun to stop fighting, and they live together in the community. And they asked this woman, how would you do this, but I don't see any cause in this village. They say, sometimes we walk for two days to access another village, you see, and for me, that was that was look at a woman walking for two days looking for peace, you know, trying to convince people for peace. And I was like, this is this is something that women bring that is unique. And this one of the women told me, you know, what Riya, if we had women in this processes, since way back, then South Sudan would not be at war right now. And that is a statement that I took seriously. You know, because I think it's also

Susan: It's, I think, potentially, there's a lot of truth to that statement.

Riya: And, of course, I mean, Connecting, Connecting to another group I made, I made a group of women who do stand by me, they use their hand to mine sand from the river, so that they can feed their family. And all these women had cuts in their hand, wounds in their hand in their palm, but they kept on going to the river every day. So I had a conversation with them, as around 7am. And I told them, Why do you keep on doing this, your hands are bleeding your hands are full of wounds. And they say, we are doing this because we want to feed our families. We're doing this because we're taking care of our family. None of the women said we are doing this to get money to take care of ourselves. So for me there, I define peace and leadership. Leadership is about sacrificing yourself. You know, and peace is about having the economic power. I mean, if you if you cannot feed your family, if you if your children are not eat, then it means your heart is not at peace, it means you're not you're restless, and you cannot have peace. And for me, that was a different definition for peace. And we have this thing in South Sudan, where girls and women are looked at as income generating people, I will buy that I mean, we have like one of the biggest problem, child marriages is beyond 52%. And they say more than 52% of girls, are not able to celebrate the 18th day, by the time they're 18, they're married with two or three kids. And it is sad, because if a young girl is married over 13 or 14, have dreams are cut short, you know. And so this even affect the quality of economic growth of any country, you know. And when I talked to one of our girls, she was she got pregnant at 16. And it's also that if you get pregnant, the first thing they say is, you have made the biggest mistake, you have defied the society, you know. And so this girl was forced into marriage. And she was forced into marriage. And she said, Dad, I don't want to go to marriage, I want to go back to school. And apparently, we don't have school fees for you go to marriage. And she said no. So she, she, she, she defied that she started working at a hair salon to raise money to pay her tuition in the university. And now as I speak to you Susan, she's studying law at the University of Juba. And for me, that was leadership and peace, because leadership is about owning responsibilities, saying if you cannot do this, I can't do this. And that was inspiring not only to me, but so many other young girls who are being forced into marriage. And think if, if this young girl, when you can do it, I can also do it. But for me also peace for this young girl was forced me to marriage because if you forced me to marriage, I'm not going to be happy. And to my mind, my body and my spirit will not be at peace. And with all these other things, trust me, I was like, women, we bring a unique, a unique sense of humor or unique definition of peace and leadership. So yeah, society is trying a lot to push the women a way to slip women's efforts under the carpet. But we are also working hard to say we will not allow this to happen, we will ensure that also that is women are part of the process. And so going to lead we are advocating for more women to be included, even in the in the new government, new transitional government. And we want to ensure that the 35% percent that was according to the women, I mean, we did not beg for the fair trade, but then we worked hard for that, right. But then we wanted 50%. But that means they do want too much, of course. And we have 35% but still the feeling in you know what women, you cannot do this, you cannot do that. Because you don't have the capacity because you don't belong here.

Susan: Globally, women are supporting each other just say, Nope, that's, that's not what we're doing anymore, we actually are really going to support each other to get to a place that really is gender equality.

Riya: Yes. And I can save. Also reflecting I feel like patriarchy is coming back in so many different new forms. I was I was telling friends of mine, I was like, I feel like patriarchy is like an amoeba. I feel like it keeps on changing your dresses in different ways. And it is changing in a way that all you women want leadership, okay, we can make you we can make it our secretary, or we can make you we can make your messenger or we can make us tea. But when it comes to hardcore decision making places, like Ministry of Defense, or ministry Finance, then those they are women. No, you don't belong here. So we have to push on that as women as well. And also keep on supporting each other encouraging each other to say, if this person would be position, you cannot work that position.

Susan: Yeah. So Riya, we, we need to wrap in terms of time? Is there any final if people wanted to reach you? How would they reach you? What would be the easiest way?

Riya: Well, I'm on Twitter. And my handle is theonlyriya1.

Susan: That broke up so it so you could have to send an email.

Riya: Yeah, I'll share that. I'll share. Okay. But finally, I just want I just want the world to know that those thoughts that we have signed a peace agreement in around Trove, that is tomorrow, September, or peace agreement will be making one year, and we still have a long way to go. So the world should not give up on us. I mean, peace is a collective effort. And we all have a responsibility, even America, and even the Russia given the Chinese, everyone has a responsibility. As long as a human being, you have a responsibility to ensure that war does not come back to South Sudan.

Susan: Beautiful, thank you very, very much for your time and look forward to staying in touch and really you’re an amazing woman.

Riya: Thank you. keep on keepin on. Alrighty. Thank you.

Transcript of post interview conversation — More great comments from Riya on the role of global actors. . .

Susan: That was beautiful. Thank you so much. It's really all you said. So many beautiful things. And you're so articulate and, yeah. So anyway, what I need, I do need your headshot. And and and I'm not going to, I have two episodes ahead of you. So I'm not going to release this immediately. It's going to be a you know, a little bit of time. But I do need your headshot and the bio that you would like us post on the website and whatever contact information you want us to post on the website.

Riya: I'll share I'll share with you my bio right away.

Susan: Okay. And the headshot ideally, and it's great if if the highest quality you could come up with is good. And it's good if it's a little more horizontal and vertical, but whatever you got, you know, we'll work with it. But it's nice.

Riya: Yeah, I'll share with yourself. Yeah.

Susan: Other than that, really, I mean, you're amazing. You really I was so you just so articulate and, yeah, so I hope that I hope that this ends up being useful for you. I you know, it's interesting, too, is I realized that, you know, also, you'll net will now will put you on our our list. So you'll be getting the episodes, but you know, there are other people that you might want to reach out to that are also part of this world. I mean, I'm sure your, your that's happening with you. But I just hope that it supports you. Because one of the things one of my objectives is really, to give a platform for people just like you to be able to speak to the world.

Riya: Thank you. Yeah.

Susan: Yeah, yeah. Well, like I said, I think women, I think a lot of women all over the planet are kind of like, okay, we're a little tired of it. We're, it's time to, it's, it's time to change what's going on here. This is not for us anymore. You know, it's not working for us. And it's not working for the planet. I mean, yeah. So. And I, you know, that we didn't get into it in great detail. But all of the all of the arms that are being dumped on South Sudan, I mean, the small arms, it's, it's really, it's a big deal. I don't know, if you listened to. I had an episode with somebody named Stephanie Seville. She was my last episode on the cost of the cost of war. And they've been tracking that post 911 expenditures coming for the United States. My country is spending so much money on military, military hardware, people are making a lot of money off of this stuff, you know? Yes.

Riya: Yes. I was. I was actually will, the program that I came for in the US here. We went to the University of Denver, and into the US IP. And I was asking them a question of, Okay, so America is saving the world. You know, and, but it's the same America that I feel like sometimes it's purely, you know, if you you give with one hand and take with, with the other hand, that's what I feel. And sincerely speaking, when I talk about weak points, South Sudan is a landlocked country. South Sudan does not produce arms where do the uncomfortable? We have seen people, like I said, Don't us coming to support, like, within, within like the Canadian, with the foreign policy, but even Canadian, so can we have individual Canadian, you know, and then I want to, you want to talk more in my country ways. And these are things that I and also, I mean, if America wants to talk the war, they can't, because they're supporting the war. And for me, and don't days, a lot of people are suffering, people are dying, this war has caused a lot of life, more than 100,000 people for more than 600,000 people. And with all these, we cannot be saying, you know what, As Americans, we are going to cut this out to the end, because after that is not cooperating counseling is not what you did at America, and I feel like America has a lot of power, that it can leverage its power to the people. So, um, but I am hopeful. I mean, there's so many, I mean, people like yourself, the fact that you bring voices of women and other people, it means a lot for because I wouldn't be here speaking if it is not for you, and people would not know about even what is happening. What does this mean for any woman? or What does? What does?

Susan: What does leadership mean, for me, I want to tell you, I've just a vision that I've had is that in the United States, women now are going to be in control of more of the economic resources than men. And yet, I think that women still are like very much asleep at the wheel, in terms of how US dollars are being spent around the world and how it's affecting our sisters all over the planet. So I really would like women in the West, particularly in my country to wake up and go, Wow, look at what is happening with the level of militarization that we are supporting, that is directly affecting people in South Sudan, people in what you know, lots of countries.

Riya: Of course, you know, recent, like when I talk about international sister solidarity, it is a solidarity, for example, where I see America, speaking of but not speaking about GIFs those venues women piece, but what does that mean? Or give those venues, children education? But what does that mean, you know, but for me, it's about even women coming together, question the status quo. The question, what is the US responsibility ending the war in South Sudan? And like, recently, we had a panel discussion. South African women were, were showing us military. And it was a South African women for South Sudanese women are calling for an end to the SDBV. Actually, the sexual gentlemen Berlin, was immense is too much it is. I mean, so many women and Belle went through a lot of sexual violence during the crisis. But now the event I think, justice, you know, and so the South African women were using the opportunity to speak without any women, and they were questioning, there was no stop. Rekha is supposed to be joining the UN Security Council. And so they were questioning their government, they're reminding the president that we have a role to play, and this is what you should do this. This is what it means. And for me, I felt like, wow, you know, and I feel like the stench should happen. American women should get up and say, you know, what, there is a war going on in South Sudan. What is our role is stopping this? You know, there is a role going on in Yemen, because women with them all over the world, there is the one going on in Cameroon. What are we Americans doing for our out there, there is a war going on in Africa. I mean, there was everywhere. But if we keep on being in siloed, we know what to help ourselves. I was telling someone that the fire that  catches your house, your neighbor's house, if your neighbor does not commit to step it. So one today, it may be South Sudan tomorrow, it may be America. And it may be the last one is woman saying, You know what, I have a student in the US, I have to mobilize myself, someone is willing to speak up for sisters like Susan, in a way. And this is what solidarity should look like. And also it brings a unique sense of pressure was if Suzanne if American organized now as the you know, house that is forming a government. Women have to be part of this. If women aren't part of this, the US should stop giving money to them unless they meet this condition. Trust me. Things can change like, like, just like this. So yeah, we have a little…

Susan: I actually continued recording that and I am not going to I mean, would not you didn't know that. I mean, so I don't want to release anything that would make you uncomfortable. But I might want to incorporate some of what you just said actually into the interview. Unless you say, Susan, don't do that.

Riya: No, I'm doing okay. Okay.

Susan: Okay, you're good. Okay, good, because you just said some very powerful things and things that I think need to be being said and things that I would like this podcast to be saying, because honestly, I I'm a little frustrated with American women, I feel like we are not paying attention to just how much money we have. And just how much that money where that money is coming from, and how it's impacting women all over the world. So anyway, on that note, it's great talking to you and, and I'm sure we'll stay in touch. And so, you know, this is not going to be released for a little while, but when, when it's ready, you'll get a link and and we love you to share it with your community. You know, however you want to share it will just give you that link and you can share it however, it's useful. But meanwhile, don't forget about the headshot and the bio. And yeah, and whatever contact information you would prefer that we post, okay.

Riya: I'm going to send you right away.

Susan: Okay. Goodbye, Riya. It's really been a pleasure.

Riya: Bye.