UJOSS launches capacity building workshop for journalists in Wau

Journalists attending UJOSS training on constitution-making process reporting in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State on 5 May 2022. [Photo: Radio Tamazuj]

The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) is training 25 journalists on the constitution-making process in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State.

The workshop, which brought together 25 participants from various media houses in the state and three from Warrap State, was officially opened on Thursday and it will run for three days.

In his statement during the workshop in Wau on Thursday, David John, the Director-General at the state ministry of information in Western Bahr el Ghazal State said, "I am very grateful because people from our ministry of information are going to take part in this workshop. I and my minister were wondering whom to do the training for our journalists, but God has brought us these two institutions of UJOSS and NPC to have the training for us. This training will improve the work of our journalists in the state."  

UNESCO's Communications Specialist, Ms. Doreen Loboka says the training is timely and will improve reporting on the constitution-making process in South Sudan.

"This workshop is timely and it should lead us to report on the constitutional making process. As we all know that we are right now implementing the revitalized peace agreement that was signed in 2018 and now we are talking about Chapter 6 of that agreement. And Chapter 6 of the agreement dictates that the constitution-making process should be led and owned by the South Sudanese," she said. 

While, Ajak Ater Gar, the Vice President for UJOSS pledges that the journalists' body will continue to conduct more workshops in Western Bahr el Ghazal State.

"This is a very good opportunity for us as a union of journalists to come to Western Bahr el Ghazal State and meet our journalists and conduct this workshop. As a union of Journalists of South Sudan, one of our core mandates is to train journalists. We will continue to conduct more workshops in Wau and we shall also be taking you to attend workshops in Juba," Ajak Ater said.

Ater added: "We have formed state branch offices in some states and now we have come to establish our branch office here in Western Bahr el Ghazal. I want to tell all journalists present here that after this workshop, we shall conduct elections here to elect the new UJOSS state leadership. This is because we want to know what is facing our journalists here through our officials in the state," she added.

The training is organized through the support from UNESCO.