Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), a Canadian non-profit media development organisation, has urged South Sudanese journalists to strengthen their reporting on violations against children and hold those responsible for recruiting and using minors in armed conflict accountable.
Mustapha Dumbuya, JHR’s director of African programmes, made the call on Friday at the conclusion of a five-day training for more than 25 journalists in Juba, organised jointly by JHR and the Dallaire Institute.
“We do have a job, and I think at this point we agree as journalists, we have a job to expose these violations but also to hold the perpetrators accountable through the work that we do,” Dumbuya said.
He urged participants to apply the knowledge and skills gained during the training in their daily reporting, saying journalism had an important role in exposing human rights violations and promoting accountability.
Mary Ajith, JHR’s country lead in South Sudan, said protecting children from recruitment into armed groups was essential to safeguarding their rights, including access to education and other basic services.
“In the liberation struggle, people take it as a pride that I joined the liberation when I was seven years old and all that, but it is no longer a pride in the 21st century,” Ajith said.
“Instead, it is a human rights concern because you can have your child going to school, you can have your child accessing better services and then somebody’s child who is actually being used in armed conflict.”
Ajith said the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict should be treated as a human rights violation rather than celebrated as a source of pride.
The five-day training sought to strengthen journalists’ capacity to report on efforts to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.
Ajith said the training was the second cohort under the partnership’s programme.
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