UNDP starts capacity building training for South Sudan community based organizations

May 6, 2008 (Juba NSV) - The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) started a three-day training workshop on Monday at Zara Hotel Juba to build capacities of various Southern Sudanese community based organizations (CBOs).

The UNDP Access To Justice (ATJ) Program manager, Mr. Nelson Mbu said the workshop is just a curtain raiser and that some capacity building projects for the CBOs are in the pipeline.

He said the philosophy behind the project is to strengthen the CBOs to assume the role of community watchdogs by keeping the government in check and to act as voice for the voiceless.

Access to Justice Program is a project of the UNDP geared at reducing poverty and to strengthen democratic governance.

Mr. Nelson Mbu said the UNDP has consulted with the community and identified delays in legal process, expensive legal proceeding and lack of access to Legal Aid among others as some of the problems hindering access to justice of the common citizen.

Mr. Mbu said the ATJ is working with the government of Southern Sudan Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development and other legal bodies to find ways of providing legal aid to those who can not afford competent lawyers for their court cases.

One of the workshops was devoted to the general overview of Human rights and the rule of Law with references to the Comprehensive agreement (CPA) and Interim constitution of Southern Sudan.

The workshop was attended by representatives from various Southern Sudanese Community based organizations. The Workshop will enter to its 2nd day Tuesday and participants will expect to learn new skills of project proposal writing. Tomorrow's session will give them at least the rubrics of writing fundable project proposals that hardly go pass the UNDP funding desk.