The National Press Club South Sudan (NPC-SS) has organized a three-day training workshop on governance, media law, welfare, safety, and protection of journalists in the Wau capital of Western Bahr-el-Ghazal State.

 

The workshop brought together participants from the law society, media institutions, law enforcement agencies, and members of civil society to brainstorm on how to uphold press freedom and the safety of journalists in the country.

 

Addressing the participants during the opening ceremony, the NPC-SS Representative, James Deng Dimo stressed the importance of sharing knowledge and experience, crucial to advancing development in the country.

 

He urged the participants to use the opportunity to enrich themselves with skills to contribute to nation-building through the dissemination of accurate information via media.

 

He stressed the need to establish full media structures such as the media appeal board to help in settling media issues in the country.

“There is a delay in establishing the remaining structures mentioned in the Media Authority Act 2013. I believe it is due to a lack of budget.

 

Speaking on his part, the Country Director of UNESCO Julius Banda re-affirmed UNESCO’s commitment to supporting national partners in building the capacity of media workers and other related media institutions to promote freedom of expression and opinion in South Sudan.

 

“UNESCO since the independence of South Sudan has been supporting both government and non-governmental organizations with funds to strengthen their capacity in various areas,” Banda said.

 

The Police Spokesperson in Western Bahr-el-Ghazal State, Captain Guot Guot Akol asserted that South Sudan has very good media laws, but lacks implementation.

 

“I would like to thank the NPC-SS and UNESCO for organizing such kind of training in Wau. So far, I must say this is the first time for me to attend such kind of training which enables us to sit in one place as law enforcement agencies, Journalists, law society, and civil society. This will make us understand media laws and I believe from today if media cases are brought to us as police, we will be able to use the right approach to handle the media issues rightly,” Guot affirmed.

 

He urged the journalists to conduct themselves ethically while reporting issues in society.

 

The two-day training workshop was officially opened by the Acting Minister of Information and Communication who is also the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Hon. Anthony Charles in Wau.

 

Minister Charles encouraged the participants to take the training seriously and use the opportunity to build trust, and confidence and mend the relationship to promote social cohesion in the state.

 

“I wanted to thank NPC-SS for bringing the light to Wau through this series of activities here in our state. Such kind of activities have not been reaching us here in Wau,” Charles said.