Launched on Monday 22^nd July 2015, the 2 week training is coordinated by a renowned national photojournalist Peter Gume and brings together 10 female and 10 male journalists with an objective of building journalists skills in photography, through a combination of theoretical training and field practicals.

Speaking during the launch, Justin Aleer de Mayen, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting underscored the important role journalists play and termed journalism as a noble job. Acknowledging the great attention by UNESCO and other media development partners in promotion of freedom of expression and of the media, as well as in building journalists capacity in South Sudan, the Undersecretary said that where there is freedom of expression, citizens are able to think and make things happen. ”Sensitive reporting is also important because it not only affects lives of the people you report to and report on, but also affects your career” Mr. Aleer de Mayen advised the photojournalists.

While responding to Journalists on the question regarding the delay in establishing the Media Authority, the Undersecretary informed the journalists that before the end of 2015, the South Sudan Media Authority will be in place and one of the key roles will be to register and accredit national and international journalists as well, which the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has been undertaking in the absence of the Media Authority.

Echoing the same sentiments on the role of the journalists, Elisabeth Hårleman, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) Representative in South Sudan, emphasised the important role journalists play in providing information, that ordinary people would not have access to. She applauded the 50% representation of women in the training, acknowledging the difficulties experienced in getting female journalists participate in such training. “The best journalists are those that recognize their role as servants of the people as they have a huge power to influence people” emphasised Ms. Hårleman.

“UNESCO has walked with the people of South Sudan before and during the current crisis, by building the human and technical capacity of the media training institutions, media personnel and journalists associations”, said Ms. Lydia Gachungi, the UNESCO Juba Communication and Information specialists. She emphasised that in spite of the current humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, UNESCO in collaboration with other media development partners, has continued to support development of the South Sudan media sector, to ensure the current crises does not cripple the communication platforms. Currently, UNESCO is also providing support to the development of the community media sector that is owned and managed by the communities, through establishment of women and youth radio listeners clubs in Pibor and Awerial counties with a view to giving voices to the voiceless and marginalised segments of the rural communities.

Drawing from the wealth of experience from two renowned International trainers, Ms. Frederique Cifuentes –a French photojournalist as well as a documentary filmmaker and project manager based in the UK had this to say to the photojournalism trainees, “your mission is more important than ever, your are the generation whose documenting the narrative of South Sudan from its early years of existence for the next generations to come. You are writing history. Echoing this, Mr Russell Frederick of Kamoinge photographers from New York, had some words of advice to the South Sudan journalists “The time has come for South Sudan to have new authors telling the stories of its country. The issues have been well documented, but from this workshop we will empower each photographer to produce visual narratives of honour and dignity, so that the world can learn more about South Sudan.

At the end of the first week of this training, the participants have confirmed the skills they have gained will be used to tell the story of South Sudan in a more professional and ethical way. They also indicated that this training will also have an impact on those South Sudan youth who did not have the opportunity to attend this 2 week course.

Jok Solomon, one of the journalists attending the training commented, "I am going to use the knowledge acquired to train other people and also take this knowledge to the secondary schools as well as target the young people, to build their  skills in photography from the secondary level stage”. Excited that she had the opportunity to be selected for this training, Stela Poni one of the female journalists exclaimed “I am getting to know some photography principles and skills i had no idea about and by the end of this training, i will be a better photographer and also show the world what South Sudan is through my own eyes!".

The two weeks training that is carried out within the framework of UNESCO’s project on promoting an enabling environment for freedom of expression, a global action with special focus on the Arab region and South Sudan, focuses on six key areas; basic Journalism skills including freedom of expression, history of photography, best practices in digital photojournalism including photo essay development, photography as a profession in a country in conflict-(Conflict sensitive reporting); computer skills in editing photos using digital software and Ethics in photojournalism.

At the end of this training, the journalists are expected to show case the skills acquired through a photo exhibition in the afternoon of 1^st of August 2015, at training venue- the Juba Landmark. This training is also a precursor to a one month regional training on photojournalism which is foreseen to take place in Addis Ababa, in October 2015, aimed at promoting South-South exchange. Out of the 20 South Sudanese Journalists attending the 2 week training, the best 4 will be sponsored to attend the advanced training in Addis Ababa.

For Further details, please contact

Lydia Gachungi, Communication and Information Specialist, UNESCO Juba Office

Tel. +211922066002, Email: I.gachungi@unesco.org