© HI
On 10th November 2023, as part of Phase 3 – Leave no one behind! Project, HI’s South Sudan project team conducted a kickoff workshop for the technical support mechanism on disability inclusion under Gender Inclusion Technical Team (GITT) in Palm Africa hotel, Juba.
The technical support mechanism members are 17 inclusion focal points drawn from National Organization, International Non-Governmental Organizations, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), Ministry of Gender Child and Social Welfare and UN agency in South Sudan. The group hopes to include more members in the future.
The main objective of launching the technical support mechanism on disability inclusion is to strengthen and localize technical resources to operationalize the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. The initiative aims to strengthen the nominated focal points capacity to provide technical support to mainstream disability at their own organizations and in the whole cluster coordination system. The project also intends to create a space for peer to peer learning, furthering and strengthen knowledge gained during previous RAAL labs trainings on disability inclusion.
The kick-off workshop provided an occasion to define the scope and needs of such a technical support group. During the workshop, the inclusion focal points were taken through impact of having or not having such a mechanism to understand the relevancy of the technical support mechanism on disability inclusion. The participants were also divided into smaller groups to analyze the existing gaps at their organizational, cluster and humanitarian response level. They also drew up activities and action plans as well as modalities of operations. The next step is to meet and develop a clear roadmap of implementation based on the suggested gaps and action plans proposed by the group.
The director from the Ministry of Gender Child and Social Welfare, one of the focal points, concluded:
‘I would like to appreciate HI through this Leave no one behind-project for the tremendous job it is doing, having a technical support group on disability inclusion to strengthen and localize technical resource persons in the context of South Sudan is a priority, because the focal points would cascade the knowledge in their respective organizations and other clusters. I would also recommend expanding and taking this project to other states and administrative areas so that none is left behind.’’
text by Obale Musa, HI South Sudan team
