5 June 2015 - In keeping displaced persons at UNMISS Juba protection sites secure, UN Police and partners today completed a fourth training programme for Community Watch Groups.

Some 49 participants from three Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites completed the four-day course, which focused on gender and child protection, rights of women and children, problem solving and patrol techniques.

The training also included other vital areas such as local justice, camp ground rules, fire safety, working with partners (UN Police and non-governmental organizations) as well as HIV awareness.

The training was conducted in coordination with the International Rescue Committee, Acted, PACT and the UNMISS HIV/AIDS Unit.

“Now you are the protectors of the entire community,” said James Manyuine Tut, secretary to a protection site chairman, stressing that participants were to apply skills they had gained.

PoC site chief James Kuong Geay also emphasized the need to put into practice what participants had learned. “It is very important what you are doing in the camp.”

He expressed hope that more females would be represented at the next training programme.

“You are leaders in your community, you are role models, and you provide safety and security,” said Police Adviser Jackie Gold, creator and coordinator of the course.

She noted that Community Watch Group members had a difficult job to do. “The first thing is you must keep yourself safe. Please do not walk into danger unnecessarily. Because if you get hurt, you can protect no one. Think before you act.”

Participant Pal Gatluak said the training would help unite the camp community and that regulations learned would allow participants to solve PoC problems. “We will go back to the camp and do more.”

Another participant, Nyabol Dubal Mabor, stressed that patrol techniques she had mastered during the course would allow her to deliver a good service to people in the PoC area.

Two additional similar courses will be conducted in Juba by the end of June.

The training will be extended to all IDP camps under UNMISS protection across South Sudan.