The UNMISS Civil Affairs Division and Jubek State authorities recently convened a two-day conflict mitigation and management workshop aimed to equip the state’s law makers with the requisite tools needed to resolve local conflicts in the state.

Olivia Victoria, UNMISS Civil Affairs Division (CAD) officer, said that the workshop seeks to impart practical skills to the participants in order to help them resolve conflicts at the boma, payam and county levels by devising an holistic conflict management strategy whose overall goal is to protect civilians.

“The skills will help the trainees in identifying, deterring as well as resolving various kinds of conflict at the grassroots level,” said Geetha Pious, CAD Head of Juba’s field office.

Ms. Pious added that due to their predominantly military backgrounds, most of the officials lack the basic skills necessary to tackle their mounting challenges back home.

Speaking during the training, the Deputy Governor of Jubek State, Francis Latio Michael, told the newly appointed officials to be on the alert for conflict triggers as they assume offices in their respective counties across the state.

“Before the conflict confronts you, you must be given this training to enable you to detect and deter it yourselves,” the Deputy Governor said.

The most predicted conflicts to confront the new officials revolve around land grabbing, cattle rustling, inter-boma, inter-payam, and inter-county border disputes, fighting over grazing land, as well as competition over access to scarce resources, such as forests for timber.

“Your behavior in relation to one another is also crucial in that any conflict emerging must immediately call for inter-community dialogue in order to address it without it resorting to violence,” Mr. Latio said.

He, however, said that denouncing conflict in an outright manner by promoting cordial relations between government elites and the local communities, as a first step, is critical to realizing the peace citizens duly desire.

He added that promotion of interdependence among communities through exploring issues of mutual interest, such as trade, would help promote co-existence, bolster cooperation and discourage intercommunal feuds.

The workshop drew together 40 state officials, comprising 13 county commissioners and 27 directors from all bomas and payams of the state.