United Nations Radio

UN Peacekeepers

PRES: Crime in the capital city of southern Sudan, Juba, is almost spiraling out of control as this region struggles to shape up to huge expectations after decades of civil war have left the police incapacitated. Chance Baniko of the UN Mission in Sudan reports.

[Sudanese woman singing]

BANIKO: This police officer is singing about peace in Southern Sudan after incidences of burglary in and around Juba have left at least 6 people dead and several others injured. The ill-equipped southern Sudan police are fighting to put the situation under control.

Christine Alola is a police advisor working with UNMIS; she explains how UNMIS police are helping the local police fight crime in southern Sudan.

ALOLA: Yes, what we are doing with them to help fight crime, of course we are first of all teaching them investigations, we patrol with them and tell them when patrolling, this is what you should look at, this is what you should do, and then interaction with the community during patrols so that the community can be able to inform you about crime.

BANIKO: Mrs. Alola also says that the UN women police are involved in strengthening and building up the capacity of the local police, to contribute to general peace and security in southern Sudan. She throws more light on the UN police mandate:

ALOLA: Our mandate is reform and restructuring, which involves community policing, training of the local police, capacity building, it also involves gender and child protection activities, and then it involves confidence building to the southern Sudan police service (SSPS).

[Sudanese woman singing]

BANIKO: To find out some of the projects the UN women peacekeepers are engaged in, I went out and about to see one of the capacity building training centers at Buluk technical school in Juba, which is offering computer training classes to the local police women to improve their capacity to report and store data on crime.

Upon arrival to the computer training center, we were greeted by the participants.

[Sudanese woman singing]

This is a small room with twenty three desk top computers; there is a fan overhead cooling air in the class. In front of the class stands the teacher teaching the officers. Sitting behind these computers are fifteen police officers listening to instructions.
I met and talked to three police officers attending the training to find out how this course will help them fight crime in southern Sudan

WOMAN POLICE1: This course will help us, it is like for those who are working in security, you can easily go out, you investigate and get a crime, you come and store it in whatever your computer, and that one can make easily the people to get the crimes out of the town."

WOMAN POLICE2: This course will help me in many ways; on how to conduct finance accounting, how to store police information in the computer, and how to retrieve it."

WOMAN POLICE3: I store them for the evidence, if that person ran away, it will be caught because that information will be there and these things will be the evidence. So I think that will also help because the location will be known, and the information will be very accurate."

BANIKO:] On what the UNMIS police can do for the future of south Sudan, in terms of peace and security, most women police said that UNMIS has to widen its support to the south Sudan police to build sustainable peace and security.

[Sudanese woman singing]

Chance Baniko reporting for UN Radio.

[Sudanese woman singing]

duration: 3'54"