The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has held a 5-day training session for members of a community watch group and local leaders to identify and solve problems in an effort to improve the security and safety of the communities staying at the Bor Protection of Civilians (PoC) site.

The training aimed to create a common understanding of community policing so that participants may employ practical policing principles when dealing with community related crimes.

UNDP, through its access to the Justice and Rule of Law Project, has been working with UNPOL and the South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS) to implement this philosophy in South Sudan.

The training also resulted in the formation of a Policing and Community Relation Committee (PCRC).

UNDP consultant and training facilitator, Fiona Much-better Dhafi, said the PCRC will work together with local youth to fight crimes within the site.

“The idea of the training is to equip the participants with the skills and knowledge to identify problems inside the PoC sites that could be best served through community policing. The community will join hands with the youth to carry out foot-patrols to prevent crimes,” Ms. Dhafi said.

UNDP supported this initiative by providing both technical and financial support in the areas of training, establishing committees and the facilitation of meetings.

Organizers hope that bringing together a variety of participants will encourage a common understanding of how different actors can contribute to the implementation of the policing.

Mr. Galuak Tuony Dieny, a representative for the local community leaders, urged the participants to promote awareness inside the PoC's.

Dieny stated that the groups have learned how to prevent crimes, among them gender-based violence and other related cases of abuse. He said the committee will need to stand up to fight for women and vulnerable populations.

In addition to crime prevention skills, attendants received training on how to increase the focus and concentration on the issues at hand during regular committee meetings, and thereby to produce solutions to community security problems in a more efficient way.

David Duoth Machar, the Bor PoC site chairman, said the security violence training has revitalized the communities’ wish to maintain peace in the PoC site.

“The skills they gain during this course can be very beneficial and I hope they will use them. The target area that they have been especially trained on is SGBV (sexual gender-based violence), since preventing these cases is key for the communities to maintain peace within the PoC site,” Machar said.

He said that he also expects the block leaders to be ambassadors of peace.

“When they are within the PoC, if any case arises in their area of jurisdiction, whatever their block, they should be there to advise the community,” he said.