The Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) will send eight journalists to Uganda between 18 and 22 January 2016 to learn from their counterparts and share experiences between the two nations.

According to a statement by AMDISS, the South Sudanese journalists participating in the trip are drawn from radio, TV, newspaper, and internet-based media houses. They will have an opportunity to identify key challenges facing media in the two countries and recommend regional level solutions.

"We believe this visit will enhance the understanding of similar local issues by visiting the respective media houses and interacting with key senior journalists," AMDISS said. "This experience from the field will support proper enhancement to improving the quality of their work."

Journalists in both Uganda and South Sudan have experienced incidents of harassment and intimidation recently. In South Sudan, two journalists are currently in jail, while at least seven were killed last year besides others harassed and beaten.

In Uganda, numerous journalists covering rallies held by opposition politicians have been severely beaten and their equipment smashed by police forces in the last month, while others have been arrested and held incommunicado, according to a statement from the Union of Journalists in Uganda.

The chairperson for Union of Journalists in South Sudan (UJOSS) Oliver Philip Modi appreciated and encouraged reporters to keep up their work professionally despite ongoing challenges. Modi said UJOSS is trying its best to secure the release of South Sudanese journalists held in jail by National Security Services.

He said he met with NSS rcently regarding the case of Joseph Afandi, who was arrested by NSS on 29 December 2015. NSS confirmed to him that they are holding Afandi but would not let him visit the detained scribe, Modi said. No charges have been announced in the case.

The other imprisoned South Sudanese journalist is UN radio journalist George Livio Bahara, who has been behind NSS bars since August 2014.