NPC-SS commemorates its second anniversary

The National Press Club of South Sudan [NPC-SS] will be celebrating its second anniversary on the 14th of December 2022.

Looking back at our performance in the past almost two years, the organization has considerably succeeded in achieving some of its objectives, especially in the area of training.

The NPC-SS conducted a number of capacity-building training workshops, both here in Juba and in the states; Yei, Wau, Yirol, DutPadiet, Kwajok, and in Juba.

 

We want to acknowledge our gratitude to our partners who morally and financially supported these training workshops, thus making the club able to achieve some of its objectives. Here are some of our partners that supported NPC-SS training and other programs:

 

The U.S. Embassy in South Sudan supported the monitoring of the human rights violations; the commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day of May 2022; the training of editors and columnists on hate speech, and is now financing a symposium on media and freedom of expression.

 

UNESCO has been supporting most of our training programs, both in Juba and in the states.

The UN organization notably supported the organization of a football match between the NPC-SS and the National Security Service of South Sudan [NSS]. The sport was aimed at creating a good relationship between the journalists and the security personnel. It is worth noting that the creation of a good working relationship with members of the security organs is one of the objectives of the National Press Club of South Sudan. This is done through the organization of awareness conferences and sports.

UNESCO also supported joint activities organized by the NPC-SS and the University of Juba’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication Studies {SJMCS}, after the two signed a memorandum of understanding to work in collaboration with one another.

 

The memorandum has created a good working relationship between SJMCS and NPC-SS. Most of the training workshops had been facilitated by some staff members from the University of Juba, SJMCS, notably Prof. Dr. Chaplain Kara Yokoju, Prof. Dr. Geri Raimondo, Mr. Nichola Mondili from Stafford University, and Mss Delphina Roba, among others.

 

IREX has also supported the club in its training efforts, in areas of psycho-social management, physical safety, and digital security; training that is necessary for our setting in South Sudan, where there is a high number of traumatized people, and safety challenges.

Indeed, our partners have grown in number; these include the Canadian and British embassies in Juba.  We, too, appreciate the participation of the government, at both national and state levels, in our activities. We do not forget the South Sudanese media institutions, AMDISS, UJOSS, FJN, and the media houses in Juba for the good working relationship that we share with them.

 

However, much is still desired considering the bulky needs of training and other needs for our journalists in South Sudan.

South Sudan is a country that has experienced wars for so long and has not had the opportunity to educate its people. It was expected that the next move after signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was to carry out awareness programs simultaneously with the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration [DDR] exercise. This never happened, due to the political unrest and civil war in the country.

 

It is therefore clear that the communities in South Sudan are largely rudimentary; one community still considers the other as an enemy. They do not think in terms of a nation, but on ethnic lines. In this case, they can easily be manipulated by anybody, especially those from their own ethnicity. This explains the chronic intercommunal clashes in South Sudan; in most cases fueled by unscrupulous politicians who want to achieve their personal or group interests in the country.

 

South Sudan’s democracy is still a struggling one. The governance processes appear to be dysfunctional. The country has not been able to deal with vices such as corruption, violence, systematic rape of women and girls, discrimination on ethnic and gender terms, injustice, human rights abuses, and lack of political and civil space.

 

The country has witnessed recurring peace talks with the little achievement of peace for the citizens. The South Sudanese deeply need peace, and peace is only possible when the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people are respected, and they are allowed to participate in the decision-making processes, equitable distribution of resources and benefits, accessibility of justice, and gender equity are guaranteed among the citizens.

 

This calls for the strengthening of the media and the civil society organizations at large to conduct capacity-building, trust-building, and awareness programs through civic education, among the entire citizens of South Sudan, including journalists. NPC-SS believes that all citizens should be involved in the shaping of their own lives in the country.

 

There is a link between democratic governance and human development. Countries can promote human development for all only when they have governance systems that are fully accountable to all people, and when all people can participate in the debates and decisions that shape their lives.

 

Experience has shown that there is no shortcut to development without respecting fundamental human rights; civil society activism, press freedom, and political freedom.

Development and good governance are interlinked.

 

The task for the media and the civil society organizations is huge and requires a helping hand from our partners, and concerted efforts from the internal non-governmental and non-profit-making organizations in the country.  We count on our partners to continue supporting the media and other civil society organizations in order to build a vibrant civil society in South Sudan for the realization of peace in this country.

As we reflect on the anniversary of the NPC-SS, we hope our working relationship with our partners and the media organizations will continue so that we achieve more and more of our objectives in our service to the people of South Sudan.

We hope the year 2023 will be a year of peace and development in South Sudan.

 

Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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