Supporting Civil Society and Community Based Organizations to support the outreach on International Humanitarian Law to Armed Non-State Actors in South Sudan

Reaching armed non-State actors (ANSAs) and raising the issue of what is permitted or not during armed conflict is a challenging task. The initial contact with an ANSA is sensitive and building trust extremely laborious. When no or little prior contact is established, having those issues raised by communities can support the outreach to ANSAs in their respective areas of operation. As part of Geneva Call operations in South Sudan and in partnership with the Center for Strategic Conflict Analysis (CESCA), a two-day Training of Trainers workshop on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) was conducted in Juba on 10th and 11th March 2020.

This workshop equipped the participants with basic knowledge of IHL that allows them to spread the word at grass root level and reach ANSAs and influential community leaders, among others. After these intensive two days of engagement with our team, all participants portrayed a high level of understanding of basic IHL and drew ambitious action plans for dissemination in the regions of Yambio, Maiwut, Tonja, Kajo-Keji, Akobo and Rumbek, where they came from.

In South Sudan, the armed conflict is such that civilians suffer from non-respect and non-adherence by ANSAs to International humanitarian norms and principles. With the CSOs and CBOs now equipped with knowledge in IHL, they will be able to go back to their communities and share their knowledge with stakeholders to ensure the protection of civilians during the armed conflict.

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Geneva Call wishes to thank the German Foreign Affairs Ministry for its support in this project.