UN official urges gov’t to build capacity for early conflict response
The revitalized government needs to build capacity for early response to conflict, said Judy Wakahiu, the program advisor for the peace and community Cohesion project at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Wakahiu challenged committees formed by the government to tackle conflict-related matters to do more.
“It is not just forming committees but also information is to be relayed for early warning and also the capacity for early response, we need to build capacity for early response,” Wakahiu said during the symposium for mainstreaming issues of gender in the revitalized peace deal at Dembesh Hotel.
“The highest alerts we are receiving are related to GBV cases, one of the issues that have come from those alerts is the issue to do with gender-based violence in this country, which needs to be addressed in a timely manner,” she said.
Wakahiu added that with the leadership of the youth and the peace commission, a mobile application for early warning has been developed, noting that the conflict early warning system has been piloted in three states of Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei, and Lakes.
“We are already receiving early alerts from people who are trained in the fields including peace committee members and other members of the community. UNDP has taken the challenge to support to strengthen, revamp and revitalize early warning,” she said.
Chuol Rambang, the chairperson of the Peace and Reconciliation Commission said the country is supporting peace initiatives across the country, noting that the peace commission is working with partners to strengthen the conflict early warning system in the country.
“South Sudan is implementing R-ARCSS and for it to be successful every sector must be functional, achieving security and stability is an integral part of the implementation of R-ARCSS,” said Rambang.
