Your Excellencies, Ladies, and Gentlemen,
I am honored to welcome you this evening as we join the global community in celebrating International Women’s Day - a moment to recognize women’s achievements and reaffirm our collective commitment to gender equality, the foundation of sustainable peace.
I will start this speech with some personal reflections on why gender equality is important to me and important to Norway. I have three daughters – they are 16, 18, and 25 years old. In my country, my girls can become whatever they want: Prime minister, general, national police director, astronaut, football pro, the most famous in Norway being Ada Hegerberg, and she plays for the French football team Lyon. We pride ourselves on having gender equality because it has helped advance our society. Norway and the Nordic countries are at the top of the Human Development Index, GDP indexes, quality of life, and the happiness index. We firmly believe that one of the main reasons for this is the fact that we strive for gender equality....not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it benefits our society as a whole. It took us years and brave women and role models to get here, and it is still, and even today, a priority for our politicians to ensure gender equality in all parts of society. One of our PMs one time said that women working in Norway contribute more to our GDP than all our oil and gas income combined – imagine that - and you probably know that we have the world's largest sovereign wealth fund because of our oil and gas export. We believe Women’s rights and gender equality should be adopted by all countries, including South Sudan.
Turning to the situation in South Sudan. We are deeply concerned about the increased fighting and now the latest developments in Akobo. Norway has supported Women, Peace, and Security since before independence. It is, therefore, heartbreaking to watch that we once again are facing a cycle of violence. The victims most often are innocent women and girls. Our message has been clear: Enough is enough – South Sudan has already seen too much violence. When armed conflict arises – so does the number of sexual and gender-based violence victims. But these are not only numbers and statistics, it is also someone's mother, someone’s sister, daughter, or cousin.
We have to return to stability and peace. We, therefore, call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and urge all parties to return to dialogue and return to a situation without war and conflict.
This brings me to the theme the United Nations has put forward for International Women’s Day in 2026: Rights. Justice. Action. For all women and girls – and as a part of this:
“Give To Gain": reminding us of the collective effort South Sudanese women gave almost 15 years ago, for the nation to gain its independence. In the same spirit, I urge you to revive the unity and momentum, in this critical time, and to restore the peace we gained.
Everyone everywhere can Give to Gain Gender Equality. Give respect, give knowledge, give an opportunity, give equal pay, give access, give justice, give truth, give resources... Norway will continue giving, including supporting women - as your role is a vital part of our cooperation with the people of South Sudan. We underline two key objectives: 1) enhancing women's participation in the peace process and political decision-making and 2) protecting the rights of women and girls.
We have witnessed the transformative power of women's unity during the liberation struggle and in peace negotiations. Even now, with the existing challenges that hinder progress, particularly the restricted political and civic space, women remain on the frontline advocating for peace.
To the advocates here today – thank you. And never, never give up. Your courage and commitment remind us that progress never happens by staying silent. I want to encourage you that change happens gradually, the freedom we enjoy today, however small, was gained in resilience.
Enough is enough, women in South Sudan, let us collectively restore the nation.
Thank you!