Joseph John has been working for several years as a radio reporter at a local radio station in Wau, Voice of Hope, despite his limited knowledge of human rights reporting.

“I often deal with human rights issues, but I used to make mistakes due to poor understanding and insufficient technical skills. I previously knew little about human rights,” said Joseph recently, following a two-day training workshop that sought to equip journalists like him with the necessary tools to report better on human rights issues.

“But today, thanks to UNMISS [the United Nations Mission in South Sudan], I have learned in-depth on how to monitor and report human rights, and better understand my role as a journalist in the promotion and protection of human rights,” admitted Joseph.

Like Joseph, many journalists in the Wau area have not had a chance to receive specialized training in the field of human rights. Fortunately, Joseph and 39 others, including local radio and television presenters, got invited by the UN Mission’s Human Rights Division to attend the training programme, thus building their capacity.

“Today’s training forum was a successful experience for me and other colleagues,” said Santino Deng. “It was really an important step towards better human rights reporting, and it will contribute to performing well in our daily reporting tasks,” acknowledged Santino Deng, who works for the public broadcaster, South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC).

Thanking UNMISS for the training opportunity, Alor Deng Koor, chair of the Union of Journalists in Wau area, stressed that journalists have an obligation to report accurately, and work for a truly free press. He counselled that they should not compromise objective news reporting with political considerations.

Joseph Noubadoum, the UN Mission’s Human Rights Division team leader in Wau, said the training would be used to form a human rights network that will equip journalists to investigate and report human rights issues in their community. He also reiterated the Human Rights Division’s commitment to continue supporting relevant training programmes, to help participants promote and address human rights issues.