Amidst economic challenges facing South Sudanese citizens, the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI) launched trauma healing programs in Juba on Thursday. The initiative aims to provide essential psychosocial support to the community.
During the launching ceremony, William Ongoro Peter, WPDI’s conflict resolution and peacebuilding expert, highlighted that the trauma healing program seeks to create an enabling environment for resilience among South Sudanese communities.
“The expected outcomes of this project include improving communities’ access to and awareness of mental and psychosocial support,” Ongoro stated, emphasizing the widespread impact of current challenges on the population.
“Today, we face numerous challenges in life. South Sudanese are known for their resilience, but resilience cannot be taken for granted. It is an essential part of well-being and self-care,” Ongoro added.
The one-year project, starting in Central Equatoria State, will prioritize communities heavily affected by conflict. WPDI plans to focus on four key areas during this period, including raising awareness about trauma healing and training individuals who will continue trauma healing efforts in the future.
“Our interventions focus on four main areas: firstly, creating awareness on trauma healing, social well-being, and mental health. Secondly, we will train personnel who will implement this program in the future,” he said.
The project will primarily target women, children, and vulnerable communities in Central Equatoria State. Ongoro also mentioned plans to establish peace clubs in schools and institutions. “We aim to establish health and peace clubs in schools and institutions, particularly in the areas where we are operating,” Ongoro revealed.
The WPDI official emphasized the need for creating an enabling environment for citizens to prevent ongoing trauma.
James Wani, Director General for Peace in the Ministry of Peacebuilding in Central Equatoria State, echoed these sentiments, highlighting the widespread trauma among South Sudanese. “The impact of war has severely affected people, especially those who were born during the conflict or have grown up in its shadow,” Wani added.
“The reality is that trauma affects us all, from individuals to families across South Sudan,” he emphasized. “Many of us have lived through war, grown up surrounded by conflict, and some have even lost their lives to it. The impact of war is deeply ingrained in our minds and our society, whether we acknowledge it or not.” The Director General also praised WPDI for initiating the trauma healing program.
Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative started working in South Sudan in 2012 and launched a flagship program, the Youth Peacemaker Network, in the Greater Equatoria region in 2014. The Youth Peacemaker Network now covers the three states of the region (Eastern, Western, and Central states) with networks of well-trained youths who now support their communities as they promote peace and development engagements.
The three branches of the Youth Peacemaker Network in Eastern, Western, and Central Equatoria were launched respectively in 2014, 2017, and 2018. The Whitaker Initiative has so far trained over 300 young peacemakers and entrepreneurs who are eager to connect with their communities, mediate conflicts, and reduce tensions between communities and ethnic groups. Through community projects, these peacemakers reach thousands of people over the course of a year.