Speech by the EU Ambassador Pelle Enarsson at the 16 Days of Activism Football Match to Kick out Tech-Facilitated GBV: Safe Digital Space for All 4th Dec 2025 at Juba National[...]

Speech by the EU Ambassador Pelle Enarsson at the 16 Days of Activism Football Match to Kick out Tech-Facilitated GBV: Safe Digital Space for All 4th Dec 2025 at Juba National Stadium

Speech by the EU Ambassador Pelle Enarsson at the 16 Days of Activism Football Match to Kick out Tech-Facilitated GBV: Safe Digital Space for All

4th Dec 2025 at Juba National Stadium

Distinguished excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, (list of guests to be recognised to be confirmed)

It is an honour to join you today in the worldwide campaign against Gender-Based Violence. This year's theme, 'Protecting women and girls from digital abuse and exploitation', highlights one of the most urgent and rapidly evolving challenges facing societies around the world, including South Sudan.

South Sudan's online population is young and growing rapidly. This presents an opportunity given the immense potential of digital spaces for learning, connection, political engagement and economic empowerment.

However, these spaces also present new risks, particularly for women and girls. These include online harassment, cyberstalking, non-consensual image sharing, misinformation campaigns targeting women leaders, and the exploitation of girls through digital platforms.

Digital safety must start with each of us. This includes our online behaviour, how we respond when we witness harm and how we empower women and girls to speak up and report abuse.

If we act now to build awareness, invest in safe technology, strengthen accountability systems, and equip young people with digital skills, we can shape an inclusive, respectful, and violence-free digital future.

Sport is an important strategy for building peace and unity. Sport is a powerful tool for conveying important messages in a positive and celebratory environment, often reaching mass audiences through internet. Therefore, including women in sports significantly advances gender equality. I experienced this first hand, when I as a young football referee officiated a game between two female teams - I was very humbled as the girls were pounding me and complaining about my decisions and indecisions, just like I did when I played myself!

It is really time to Kick Out Tech-Facilitated gender-based violence and to embrace sport as a tool for peacebuilding and gender equality!

Thank you

EU information

1. The Delegation has been supporting 7 projects for 7 MEUR - which ended last year - that were particularly addressing different aspects of women empowerment at grassroots level, also providing survivors with psychosocial support and legal support (legal representation and legislation support), promoting women economic and social empowerment.

In the spirit of Team Europe, the EU together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will also support a SGBV programme implemented by GIZ that will focus specifically on the prevention side. The objective of this programme is that the governmental and non-governmental actors will contribute at the local and subnational levels to preventing sexualised and gender-based violence, including in the context of (forced) displacement.

1. EIDHR/2020/416-077_Supported Defy Hate Now and they created a SafetyComm which addresses concerns of cyber safety, and misinformation and disinformation used to compromise online safety as well as matters of digital inclusion for women and children

2. Besides, all EU projects have a strong gender focus since the global aim is to have 85% of all EU interventions by 2025 contributing to gender equality. The EU has a Gender Action Plan called GAP III. This is a global strategy to increase the focus on women throughout all external actions. The key areas of engagement are the following:

• Ending gender-based violence

• Sexual and reproductive health and rights

• Economic and social rights and empowerment

• Equal participation and leadership

• Women, peace and security

1. The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Working Group in South Sudan focuses on promoting women's participation and protection in peace and security processes, particularly in the context of the ongoing transition and conflict. The group advocates for the full implementation of the WPS agenda, including the National Action Plan (NAP) on UN Security Council Resolution 1325, and calls for increased resources and accountability for women-led peacebuilding initiatives.