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STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / SEXUAL VIOLENCE WORKSHOP
TRT: 02:20
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 OCTOBER 2020, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Wide shot, UNMISS Women’s Protections Officer speaking to SSPDF officers
2. Med shot, SSPDF generals
3. Med shot, OTS, SSPDF General listening to UNMISS trainer
4. SOUNDBITE (English) General Johnson Juma Akot, Chief of Defence Forces, SSPDF:
“When we became part of a nation, a part of the world, we rushed to implement what we call democracy. Our women, our daughters, our wives, they participated equally with us in preparations.”
5. Med shot, UNMISS WPO-UNPOL handing out training booklets
6. Med shot, SSPDF Officer looking at the booklet
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Shailesh Tinaiker, Force Commander, UNMISS:
“As soldiers, let me be very clear on one thing—no soldier has the right to anybody’s personal property, he / she has no right to claim the life of any innocent, he / she has no right to violate the dignity of any woman or cause an act of violence on any child. This is the primary duty of every soldier, whether you’re on the winning side or you’re on the losing side.”
8. Wide shot, SSPDF male and female officers seated
9. Med shot, Female SSPDF officer speaking
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Huma Khan, Senior Women’s Protection Adviser, UNMISS:
“South Sudan has had a history of conflict related sexual violence since 2013. It’s a country that’s listed in the Secretary-General’s annual reports. When a party gets listed there is credible evidence against them that they are complicit in using sexual violence. This list brings with certain restrictions on countries [and] the way to break out of it is to explore training opportunities with the UN for that country’s army, to have an action plan and to take concrete steps to address this problem, and to demonstrate that they are ready to address it.”
11. Med shot, UNMISS Trainer speaking to officers
12. Med shot, SSPDF Officer speaking
13. Med shot, UNMISS trainer writing on white paper
When civil war broke out in South Sudan in 2013, women and young girls were among the worse sufferers as their bodies became an extension of the battlefield. Seven years later, the world’s newest country is on the cusp of finally being able to establish itself as a true democracy with a peace agreement in place and steps being taken to create a unified national army.
However, much needs to be done to ensure that the rights and dignity of women and girls are consistently upheld. Therefore, on 20-21 October, UNMISS partnered with the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces to host a two-day Training-of-Trainers on prevention of conflict-related sexual violence.
SOUNDBITE (English) General Johnson Juma Akot, Chief of Defence Forces, SSPDF:
“When we became part of a nation, a part of the world, we rushed to implement what we call democracy. Our women, our daughters, our wives, they participated equally with us in preparations.”
40 SSPDF commanders and trainers, men and women, attending the UNMISS-facilitated workshop applauded General Okot, their leader, as one. Many members of the SSPDF had worked hard all summer with partners from the UN Peacekeeping Force to come up with a curriculum that would enable them to trickle down learning on preventing conflict-related sexual violence to everyone in their ranks.
SOUNDBITE (English) Shailesh Tinaiker, Force Commander, UNMISS:
“As soldiers, let me be very clear on one thing—no soldier has the right to anybody’s personal property, he / she has no right to claim the life of any innocent, he / she has no right to violate the dignity of any woman or cause an act of violence on any child. This is the primary duty of every soldier, whether you’re on the winning side or you’re on the losing side.”
This two-day session was based on the plan that SSPDF put forward to its partners in the United Nations to develop a detailed training programme on the protection of women and girls, which can become an integral aspect of all future trainings they conduct among their ranks, used in staff colleges and ad-hoc learning provided by them to soldiers.
SOUNDBITE (English) Huma Khan, Senior Women’s Protection Adviser, UNMISS:
“South Sudan has had a history of conflict related sexual violence since 2013. It’s a country that’s listed in the Secretary-General’s annual reports. When a party gets listed there is credible evidence against them that they are complicit in using sexual violence. This list brings with certain restrictions on countries [and] the way to break out of it is to explore training opportunities with the UN for that country’s army, to have an action plan and to take concrete steps to address this problem, and to demonstrate that they are ready to address it.”
The overall objective of the training is to encourage meaningful dialogue on existing action plans to eliminate violence against women by strengthening accountability within the SSPDF and sensitizing every member about national and international obligations on protecting civilians from sexual violence.
