South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
The South Sudan Local Government Board has concluded its first learning forum that brought together County Commissioners, Executive Directors, civil society representatives and community members from the partner counties including Akobo, Aweil West, Manyo, Mundri East, Terekeka and Twic.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), in a statement issued on Monday said the Local Government Board inter-County Learning Forum, provided a space to reflect on achievements, share good practices as well as fostering sustainable partnerships on land and cattle related issues.
“With the skills acquired in the activities, the relationships within communities and among their members have improved. Even once the GIZ project ends, the communities have the ownership over the results and will carry on,” said GIZ in a statement.
The Local Government Board Inter-County Learning Forum took place in Juba, last week with close to 40 participants from the six partner counties of the GIZ project of “Rural Governance in South Sudan.”
The statement revealed that violent intercommunal conflicts especially on access to and use of land as well as cattle migration are a source of much suffering, loss, and intergenerational trauma in South Sudan.
“This is why since 2020 the Rural Governance project supports its political partner LGB in facilitating dialogue among governmental and non-governmental actors on issues of land dispute and cattle migration,” it said.
The project jointly co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union offers trainings for local government administrative officers and community members on topics of rural development, strengthening citizen participation as well as promoting gender equality and peace and conflict mediation.
In South Sudan, GIZ works on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Germany supports the long-term development of South Sudan, above all in the fields of local governance, rural development, sustainable agri-foodsystems, water and sanitation supply, peace and reconciliation, gender equality and SGBV prevention.
“Activities and initiatives implemented in the past years to promote peace and gender equality included community-based conflict resolution trainings as well as trainings on gender-based violence, the establishment of Peace and Development Committees and the implementation of participatory peace and conflict analyses,” it said.
