2 November 2012 - Training prisons officers to use established laws helped create an environment promoting peace and development in South Sudan, UNMISS Western Bahr El-Ghazal Acting State Coordinator said today in the capital Wau.

"We assure you that our doors will be open to work with anyone who needs our assistance," Victor Fasama said at the closing of a two-week UNMISS training in correction service laws.

More than 20 prison officers from the Greater Bahr El-Ghazal region's four states -- Lakes, Warrap, Northern Bahr El-Ghazal and Western Bahr El-Ghazal -- participated in the exercise.

The training was aimed to support on-going capacity building for the South Sudan National Prisons Service, according to UNMISS Corrections Advisor Charity Gezi.

"We brought (the officers) here together ... in order to create harmony and good relations ... between the prison services in these states," said Ms. Gezi.
Wau Civil Prison Director Michael Butuku urged UNMISS to continue with the "remarkable bilateral cooperation".

The Bahr El-Ghazal officers were the third group in South Sudan to receive UNMISS training, noted Juba-based UNMISS Corrections Training and Development Manager Solomon Aina. UNMISS has conducted similar exercises in the Greater Equatoria and Greater Nile regions.

"Two weeks is not enough to complete the syllabus," he said. "Next year we shall have follow-up training.