Training Roots and Goals
The South Sudan National Police Service has opened a week-long course for Child Protection Focal Point Officers designed to curb child recruitment and other wartime abuses while sharpening crisis response across the force.
Backed by the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, the initiative blends global standards with South Sudan’s legal commitments, promising what organisers describe as “a pragmatic bridge between international norms and realities on the ground”.
Local Expertise at the Lectern
Unlike earlier foreign-led workshops, this session is facilitated mainly by South Sudanese officers who have patrolled Jonglei’s swamps and Unity’s oilfields; their field anecdotes, participants say, lend urgency and credibility that slides alone cannot capture.
Legal Frameworks in Focus
Modules dissect national child act provisions alongside African Charter and UN Security Council Resolution 1612, giving trainees checklists for arrest procedures, evidence logging and civil-military coordination that avoid jeopardising minors’ safety.
Grave Violations Addressed
Deputy police spokesperson Major Lith Simon underscores six priority violations: recruitment, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools, assaults on hospitals and denial of humanitarian access.
“Our focal points must monitor, document and act decisively before any pattern escalates,” she told the class, framing prevention as the most affordable form of security.
A Collective Responsibility
The closing session highlighted that safeguarding children cannot rest on uniforms alone; trainers urged alliances with chiefs, teachers and faith leaders to strengthen early-warning networks.
Lith summed up the sentiment: “Child protection is both a legal obligation and a national duty; when we protect the vulnerable, we invest in the stability of South Sudan”.