Do Not Consider The Girl Child As The Only Source Of Wealth

4th March 2011 – (Abyei) –A Jonglei government official has advised parents to stop considering the girl-child as the only source of wealth.

This statement came after an 18 year old girl died after she was brutalized for choosing a bridegroom against her parents’ will earlier this week.

Speaking to SRS on Friday an advisor on gender affairs to the governor of Jonglei state, Susan Lith Aluong said other alternatives should be considered to acquire wealth.

[Susan Lith Aluong] “Children are equal; whether it is a girl or a boy. That girls bring wealth to a family is discrimination. Instead of thinking of the cows all the time, we have to do other things that can bring us money. They have to cultivate. They have to work hard to get other resources of life like business.”

In most southern Sudanese communities, a girl-child is considered the main source of wealth through dowries.