Launch report CIMIC meetings in Jonglei, South Sudan

Summary Report  SSANSA - Cimic launch conference

The conference “Security is everyone’s business; Improving State – Civil Society relations for enhanced community security” was held on February 28 in Jonglei State’s capital Bor at the Garden Resort Hotel. The conference was organized by South Sudan Action Network on Small Arms (SSANSA) as part its initiative to enable better civilian protection policies and practices through regular information sharing between providers and recipients of protection. The rationale for the initiative is the fact that, as victims of various forms of violence and the hosts to criminals, communities can best articulate the extent of their insecurities and provides the contextually appropriate suggestions of protection mechanisms. SSANSA’s conviction is that a dialogue between the protectors and the protected is indispensible to providing the appropriate and adequate form of protection to civilians.

The conference was attended by fifty participants drawn state institutions and civil society sectors. Representatives of state government institutions including county commissioners, County Executive Directors, Police Services, Bureau of community security and small arms control, County peace desk representatives. Civil society representatives included Paramount Chiefs, youth and women representatives, and civil society organizations. The meeting was also attended by a representative of IKV Pax Christi which jointly supported the initiative with Cordaid. UNMISS which is an intergovernmental organization with a mandate to provide protection for civilians and works in broader aspects of security and justice was also represented.

The conference provided a platform for an open dialogue for protection stakeholders to discuss critical security issues. It did not just highlight contemporary security concerns but discussed the role[s] each stakeholder should play in enhancing community security at the local level. The conference was addressed by H.E. the Governor of Jonglei State – who officially opened the conference, the State Minister of Local Government and the Chairperson of SSANSA who gave a keynote address. All the speakers who made the opening remarks underscored the significance of joint action in addressing the challenges of insecurity in Jonglei state. 

South Sudan Action Network on Small Arms [SSANSA] 2013

SSANSA is a network of over 40 civil society organizations from across the ten (10) states of South Sudan.The network was formed to facilitate national civil society organizations’ (CSOs’) action to make people safer from gun violence by preventing and combating the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons in South Sudan, the region and beyond.

Photo credit: Utenriksdept via FlickR