The two-day took place between 13 and 14 April 2022 at Dembesh Hotel in Juba. Photo SSPRC/Anthony Ochan
South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission with support from UNDP carried out a two-day workshop on gender mainstreaming and inclusion facilitated by an experienced gender consultant and a lecturer at the university of Juba.
A workshop is a tool for the development of a gender mainstreaming and inclusion strategy for the Conflict Early Warning and Early Response Unit (CEWERU) of the commission. CEWERU works to mitigate and prevent conflict before they escalate into violence.
Hon. Chuol Rambang, Chair, South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission. Photo SSPRC/Anthony Ochan
The two days workshop was opened by Hon Chuol Rambang the chairperson of the South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission (SSPRC), who was accompanied by Judy Wakahiu, UNDP Peace, and Community Project (PaCC) manager and advisor, and General Alier Appollo, representative of the interior in the National Steering Committee of CEWERU. Hon. Chuol Rambang says in his opening remarks,
“This is a timely development because South Sudan is implementing the R-ARCISS and for it to be successful, every sector must be made functional and actualized. Achieving security and stability is an integral part of the implementation of R-ARCISS, CEWERU works with various institutions both government and non-governmental to ensure that grievances don’t explode into conflict at various levels”.
advisor and Project Manager for UNDP Peace and Community Cohesion Project, Judy Wakahiu. April 14 2022 Photo SSPRC/Anthony Ochan
CEWERU has been reconstituting, revitalizing, and training the different structures and levels of its peace committees after the 2018 peace agreement that restored the country back to 10 states. At the national level is the National Steering Committee (NSC) headed by the chairperson of the commission, other members include representatives of the army, police, national security, CSOs, faith-based institutions, women groups, youth groups, UN, NGOs among others. The same structure exists at the state level called State Technical Teams (STT), and at the County, County Response Mechanism (CPRM). There are plans to create Payam Peace Response Mechanisms in the future.
Judy Wakahiu,, Advisor and Manager of UNDP’s Peace and Community Cohesion Project, reflects on the journey and partnership between UNDP and the peace commission:
“We at UNDP have been working to support SSPRC to strengthen its conflict early warning system in the county since the outbreak of the 2013 conflict and the breakdown of the previous early warning system, this is because we know the importance of early warning in a situation, we find ourselves in this country.”
Judy also discussed that the partnership between the two institutions has led to the development of an innovation t counter-violence across the country:
“We have developed an application for early warning that has been piloted in three states and we have been receiving alerts from those locations, one of the issues we have been receiving is gender-based violence. In fact, the highest issues we have been receiving are related to GBV cases, and that shows the importance of the workshop. So, the gender cases that we have been receiving should be addressed in a timely manner.”
