Community leaders play an important role in the society and “wield considerable socio-political influence” (Santschi, 2012, p.1). Although their competencies and functions differ across the country, and their role and responsibility in governance remains contested, many South Sudanese regard them as “legitimate representatives of their communities”. Thus, they have an important function as bridge builders between the state and the society (ibid.). Given the social standing of these ‘chiefs’, many humanitarians interact with them to provide their services. Moreover, their reputation in the society gives them a crucial function in fighting stigma and discrimination against persons with disabilities and ensuring their participation in the humanitarian response.
One international humanitarian NGO stressed the importance of involving the community leaders in the project implementation:
Representative of an INGO |
Of course, for us the work with OPDs is really important […] But it is also important to involve the community leaders. Both because it is important to formalize our presence, but also because we can collaborate with them in order to share some important messages. We have to talk about inclusion with them. We have to talk about the rights of persons with disabilities with them. We have to talk about the early detection of disabilities, and we have to talk about some key messages because they [persons with disabilities] experience a lot of stigma […] They [the community leaders] can share these in their community in the best way. Learning the proper [rights-based] language is very important, too. They can help OPDs spread their inclusion messages. They are really important persons in this process. |