By John Agok
The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) on Thursday requested the United Nations to facilitate the training of journalists based in the states on reporting on climate change.
Oyet Patrick Charles, the President of UJOSS said during the ongoing two-day training of more than 40 journalists on sustainable development goals (SDGs).
“I urged UN family to enhance capacity building of journalists in the states so that they are empowered to accurately report on flooding as the result of Climate Change,” he said in Juba.
Oyet cautioned journalists to report on issues of climate change as a component of SDGs and other frameworks of development in South Sudan.
The country has since 2019 been experiencing heavy floods that have displaced nearly a million people in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity and Warrap States.
Julius Banda, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Country Representative, said freedom of expression is the key driver of SDGs.
He urged journalists to take up role of informing the public on the impact of climate change.
Banda also appealed to journalists to engage in the debate on dredging of water bodies in the country.
“You have an important role to play in understanding the SDGs and how to promote them in meeting the timeline. It is up to you journalists to rise up to this challenge and inform people about the SDGs and the African Union 2060 Agenda on SDGs as well,” he disclosed.
He said the UN has provided funds to facilitate training journalists on SDGs.
The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) new cooperation framework 2023 to 2025 toward 2030 SDGs was aligned with the South Sudan Roadmap that was extended in August 2022.
United Nation Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) is within the global, regional and National Framework.
The training for journalists was organized by UJOSS with support from 17 members of UNCT.
