14 May 2015 - Community leaders at the UNMISS protection site in the Unity State capital Bentiu today completed a three-day training in conflict mitigation.

The three-day training, conducted by the Mission’s Civil Affairs Section in the state, targeted 26 leaders at the site where about 53,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are seeking refuge.

“The impact of the training is that they will get skills and knowledge to help them with their daily activities and responsibilities in the PoC (Protection of Civilians) site to be able to lead the community and provide support in resolving conflict,” said Civil Affairs Officer Bashir Aligelle.

He added that the training would enable the leaders to ensure a safe and peaceful living environment for everybody at the protection site.

“We advised them to use dialogue to be able to bring these communities together and to solve their problems,” he said.

One community leader and trainee, Run David Kuol, said the training will help them to mitigate some conflicts at a UN protection site in Bentiu.

“The training we got gave us some highlights on how to run the community (and how) we can mitigate some conflicts,” he said. “We have (gained) some knowledge on how conflict analysis should be handled.”

Mr. Kuol noted that the skills gained were “really relevant” to their current roles within their communities.

In a briefing to the UN Security Council today, UNMISS Chief Ellen Loej highlighted the multitude of challenges in UNMISS civilian protection sites, including crime, gang-related violence, and ethnically based disturbances.

Earlier this week, the Mission condemned fighting that had erupted among IDPS at its PoC site in Juba which left one person dead and about 60 more injured.

According to an UNMISS press release, a domestic dispute appears to have sparked the fighting in Juba, which began in the late afternoon of Friday 8 May.

“The initial disturbances involved an estimated 350 IDPs from the Unity State counties of Mayom and Mayendit armed with machetes, sticks and metal bars,” the release said.