Training 200 peace and reconciliation mobilizers

The challenge is clear; Initiatives of Change (IofC) has been commissioned by the Vice President of South Sudan to train 200 South Sudanese Peace and Reconciliation Mobilizers.

It is truly an exciting opportunity to bring together participants from across the 10 states of South Sudan to work together on this Journey of Healing for National Reconciliation.

Participants will be trained in listening, storytelling, conflict transformation, understanding trauma, how democracy works, civic participation and many other relevant topics, as well as being introduced to the basic IofC approaches to personal and societal change. The IofC training team is enlisting the support of local experts and non-government organisations to offer training on some of the more technical subjects.

The first of the IofC International facilitators have begun work in Juba, with some others still on their way. We are especially looking forward to the arrival of six graduates from the South African Workshop for Africa programme next week to offer their contribution to the programme. The newly-registered IofC-South Sudan will also provide some facilitators. It will be a diverse team with a wealth of experience to offer.

But mobilizing the Mobilizers is a complex challenge. We need them to all be in Juba by 18 March for day one of the programme, and the selection process is only just beginning. In the last two days the IofC team met with the State heads of the Peace and Reconciliation Commission to arrange the selection process. This Commission will be responsible for selecting 15 appropriate and committed applicants from each State, who will be flown to Juba by United Nations aircraft. Many of the participants will live in rural areas – potentially some with no access to transport by land. Fifty places will go to faith-based groups, political parties and civil society representatives in Juba.

Our aim, by the end of the five-week programme, is to have inspired all 200 graduates to take personal decisions that reflect an understanding of personal change, forgiveness, reconciliation and their relevance to nation-building. We are also planning to equip the participants to facilitate constructive, creative conversations in their local community upon their return home.

The next three weeks will be intense; finalising the programme, preparing the training team, securing all the necessary equipment and accommodation/food. We are grateful to have so much support from the National Reconciliation Campaign Organising Committee, the Peace and Reconciliation Commission and Initiatives of Change South Sudan. A real team effort!

Kathryn Gor, South Sudan