By: Ginaba Lino
Caritas South Sudan organized one-day workshop to South Sudan and South Sudan Bishops’ Conference Staff and Archdiocese of Juba on Safeguarding Policy for Child and Vulnerable adults.
The workshop aims at building the capacity of the staff on the Caritas Policy and make them understand the policy put into practice during their activities.
In the closing remarks, the deputy secretary of the Sudan and South Sudan Bishops Conference Father Romano Louis thanks Caritas South Sudan for organizing the workshop for the staff working within the Catholic Institutions.
Fr. Louis calls on the participants to take the skills and disseminate to their community and also report any case that might affect the citizens in the society, describes the safeguarding policy workshop as the start of being ambassadors of in the catholic institutions to safe their people.
He adds that the people should be careful with how they treat children, otherwise it will affect their lives in the future.
“We thank Caritas for giving us this awareness, and it’s good that we have learned, we have listen, we have known what the policy is about, and I’m sure we are going to have in different Diocese as well as the Bishops’ Conference.”
The Executive Director of Caritas South Sudan Gabriel Yai says since 2016, the Caritas confederation took safeguarding as a priority area and it’s their mandate to train all the staff on safeguarding and they should abide by the policy.
Gabriel states that the National Caritas of South Sudan will contact similar training to all the staff of all the Diocesan Caritas across the Catholic Church of South Sudan so that they aware of issues of safeguarding policy.
He adds that this will help Caritas to reduce issues of Child abuse in the society, citing that Caritas has being experiencing issues related to child abuse in some countries and it affects the entire Caritas.
“Caritas have been experiencing some issues to child abuse in some countries and that affected the entire Caritas Network, and that is why we have to raise awareness on these issues of Child abuse, and abuse on against vulnerable adults, and we have to create safe environment for them.”
Yai calls on the community to protect Children and take the responsibility of raising awareness about issues of safeguarding and child abuse.
One of the participants Catherin Kale expresses her gratitude for being part of the safeguarding Policy workshop, adding that it has added the knowledge on to raise awareness on Child abuse.
Kale described the safeguarding policy as meaningful workshop in her life, thanking Caritas for organizing such workshop the Catholic Institution’s Staff.
She adds that she will continue to spreading the knowledge she have acquired in the group she hold in the parish so that they can be aware with the issues affecting Children and the vulnerable adults.