The National Transformational Leadership Institute (NTLI) with support from UNDP-Peace and Community Cohesion project conducted a five days training to the Boma State Cabinet on transformational leadership, sexual gender based violence, conflict resolution and peacebuilding in Pibor Town from the 3rd to 7th June 2019. The participants were drawn from the Cabinet Ministers, State Advisors, and State Members of Parliament, Commission Chairpersons, State Secretariat and Officials from other respective State Institutions.
The overall objective of the training was to build the skills for Peace and Community Cohesion (PACC) peace committees in transformational leadership, sexual gender based violence, conflict resolution and peace building. Adult learning techniques were employed which allowed participants to fully contribute to knowledge and reflect on peacebuilding, leadership, human rights and gender. The learning was experiential and engaged participants in individual task, group task, case stories, interactive lectures, experience sharing, role plays, demonstrations, illustrations, simulations, guest speakers and brainstorming among others.
The topics covered included transformational leadership, early warning and response in conflict management, conflict mapping and analysis, gender and leadership, gender based violence, harmful traditional practices and their consequences, both local and international etiquette and protocol, the power of influence, mediation and dialogue.
The training articulated the participant’s strength and weaknesses in the topics discussed. The participants acquired knowledge on concepts of gender and were able to identify key gender issues in the Boma state including age-set fighting with negative implications on women, forced marriage caused by booking young girls, adultery and torture of women by youth groups, undermining the value of girls education, lack of freedom for women, neglecting women’s role in decision making, lack of inheritance rights for women and many other gender based discrimination with negative consequences for women and girls. Participants were also able to map out the conflicts between the Murle and the Jieng people. They identified the root causes of the conflicts as cattle raiding, child abduction and the perpetrators as the youth, politicians and communities from both Murle and Jieng people.
UNDP-PaCC project was requested to continue peacebuilding initiatives in Boma state to enhance the peace agreement reached between the Murle and the Jieng people as well as the on-going efforts of engaging the leadership of Boma State and Kapoeta state towards peaceful dialogue on the conflict between the Murle and the Jieng people. UNDP was also requested to institutionalize the early warning and early response system in Boma state to enhance peacebuilding efforts being under taken by different actors in the state.
The training concluded that there is a need to continue strengthening the government leadership and provide capacity building to various groups on peace building and special training for law enforcement agencies.