8 August 2014 - Internally displaced people (IDPs) living in protection sites on UNMISS bases in Juba today completed a five-day course on community policing and gender-based violence.

Some 45 participants attended the training organized by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UNMISS, UN Police (UNPOL), UNICEF and other non-governmental organizations.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, UNDP Democratic Governance and Stabilization Unit Team Leader Lealem Berhanu Dinku said his organization would continue such collaboration to enable the IDPs to police themselves.

“These trainings should benefit everyone in the protection sites,” he said. “We are looking at saving lives, protecting women and children and also sensitizing the men on their roles in helping to combat the vices happening in the camps.”

He pledged that similar training programmes would also be conducted for IDPs living in the other states that were affected by the crisis that broke out in South Sudan in December 2013.

UNPOL Chief of Reform and Restructuring Unit Derek Scott urged the participants to quickly translate the knowledge acquired into practice within the protection sites.

He also urged them to be advocates for peace and use it as the only weapon to achieve their goal, adding that visible benefits of training would attract further support from sponsors for more programmes.

Peter Gatkuoth Biel, Chairperson for protection sites in Juba, thanked the UN for being mindful of the IDPs’ needs and arranging the training.

“I am glad that you are thinking about us,” said Mr. Biel. “You have brought us a new way of life. These people will take the message to their colleagues in the camps.”