A section of South Sudanese faith and community leaders on Monday commenced a five-day training programme targeting religious and community leaders to strengthen their role in combating gender-based violence (GBV).
The training, which began on Monday, is organized by religious leaders with support from the Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and brought together pastors, imams and community leaders to equip them with knowledge and skills to address violence against women and girls.
Cathrine Seland, NCA’s country director, said religious and community leaders have significant influence in their communities and can play an important role in changing attitudes towards gender-based violence.
“Faith leaders, community leaders, they have a lot of legitimacy in the communities, and they have a very important role in fighting gender-based violence,” she said.
According to Seland, people experiencing difficulties in their communities often seek assistance from churches and mosques, making religious leaders important actors in addressing violence, particularly against women and girls.
Denis Elisha, a pastor at Rivers of Life Centre Ministries, said the training would help religious leaders use their positions to educate congregations about gender equality and discourage violence within families.
“We are meeting for five days for a training that is going to be transformative. The training is for faith actors, religious leaders, who are responsible for their local churches or mosques and other community leaders,” he explained. “We are training faith leaders because their voices are heard in their communities.”
He said pastors could help address domestic violence through counselling, sermons and teachings that promote peaceful family relationships.
Elisha identified physical violence, including beatings within households, as one of the forms of abuse affecting communities, saying religious leaders could help change attitudes through their teachings.
He said the training also seeks to challenge perceptions that women are inferior to men, emphasising that both genders are equal in the eyes of God.
The pastor warned that gender-based violence could have serious consequences for families, including psychological trauma, family breakdown and separation of children from their parents.
He called on South Sudanese to reject all forms of violence, saying the practice affects both women and men.
Seland said the organisation had developed a tool to help faith and community leaders understand how religious teachings and scriptures could be used to promote the dignity and rights of women and girls.
She expressed optimism that religious leaders could make a meaningful contribution to reducing violence in their communities by using their influence to promote peaceful coexistence and respect for human dignity.
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