Parliament passes media policy for southern Sudan
By Isaac Vuni
July 18, 2007 (JUBA) — The lawmakers of southern Sudan legislative assembly have, yesterday afternoon, passed the media policy and work plan presented by minister of information and broadcasting Samson Kwaje without any counter motion.
Appreciating Samson Kwaje’s presentation, MP Tor Mowyien Deng, Deputy speaker of southern Sudan legislative assembly said “On behalf of the august house, I urge the Minister of Information and Broadcasting together with his team to double their effort in ensuring that masses in southern Sudan are informed and constantly updated on the importance of the upcoming three events of National Population Census scheduled for November this year, the General Election of 2008 and the Referendum in year 2011 respectively.”
MP Deng assured the minister of information that the assembly will through its weight behind the minister in ensuring that their request for money from the Southern Sudan ministry of finance and economic planning are released in time for purchase of radio and TV equipments which are very crucial at this particular time.
The policy objectives outlined by Samson Kwaje to the parliament stated that the ministry of information and broadcasting shall disseminate essential public information regarding GoSS policies, activities and services to the people of southern Sudan.
The ministry shall promote transparency of government through development of laws which ensure that the business of government and its decision making processes are open to public scrutiny.
The Policy Objectives
Kwaje said that the overriding policy of the ministry shall be to facilitate the development of robust, autonomous public broadcaster by Southern Sudan Broadcasting Corporation that serves the needs of southern Sudanese people for news, culture and programmes that targets all audiences including vulnerable groups within southern Sudan
The minister further stated that his ministry shall works towards the establishment of institutions and laws that effectively distribute public resources for the media sector, guarantee freedom of information and the rights necessary for the development of modern independent media to match with standards of international human rights and best policies.
He added that media sector in southern Sudan shall be protected from censorship and government interference including associations that promote professional standards of journalism, advocate for journalists’ rights and to ensure editorial independence.
The minister outlined the short term objectives as follows:
– Embark on development of legislation to enable the growth of a vibrant independent media sector, including guaranteeing the rights of journalists and media outlets to establish self-regulatory mechanisms through independent constituent associations;
– Organization of an interim broadcasting licensing committee to be followed by the establishment of a permanent independent Broadcast Authority upon adoption of appropriate legislation;
– Establishment of an independent southern Sudan Broadcasting Corporation from the current southern Sudan Radio and Television Services;
– Creation of public information unit within the directorate of information to disseminate information regarding Goss activities, policies and programmes and;
– Improvement of infrastructure through which information can reach southern Sudanese audiences including expansion of the southern Sudan radio and television services broadcast footprint, expansion of domestic printing facilities and exploration of the viability of reconstituted domestic news agency.
Meanwhile the long term strategic objectives are:
– Promoting public service broadcasting at the state level;
– Building capacity of GoSS institutions and state governments to implement public education activities;
– Exploring the viability of establishing a government printing facilities and;
– Examining the viability and prospects for sustainable operation of satellite based television and radio transmission.
Earlier, the 42 page documents were presented to lawmakers seven days before it was officially submitted on Wednesday. The assembly house has 170 seating members and a quorum is reach by 86 members while in Wednesday seating there were 91 MPs preset in the hall including 15 absent with permission, and 18 are involved in official assembly specialized committee work.
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OBALE PALATO
THE TALE OF SUDANESE RETURNEES CHILDREN
THE TALE OF THE RETURNEE CHILDREN.
By Obale Joseph Palato, Juba South Sudan.
The 21 year long civil war has forced very many Sudanese nationals into exile mostly in the neighboring countries like Uganda and Kenya among others. During this time of living as refugees in those countries many Sudanese children were produced and they grew up adopting cultures quite different from those in their mother land. The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 9 2005 set a new era for these children that are going back to their mother land. There are however, many challenges that surround the children in their new environment as seen in the story of one family that returned home from neighboring Uganda last year.
Mary Aciro is a mother of six, and she together with her children returned to Juba last year from Kiryandongo Refugee Camp in Uganda. Her home village was originally Lagii, in Pajok payam, Magwi County. She had however, decided to return and settle in Juba because of the insurgencies in Magwi county. One year since she returned life seems to be worsening every day. The UNHCR that arranged for their return deserted them within a very short period. Each family was asked to depart to their respective village, and find their own means of continuing with life. What Aciro did was find a place in Gumbo a suburb of Juba. While in Gumbo, things are not the way she thought before returning home: her children are not in school, partly because there is no nearby school, but also because she has no money to provide for the other necessities for the children to go to school. She with a view that her husband is not doing enough to help abate the increasing worsening condition of living, dropped him and married another one, a soldier this time. She and her new husband successfully chased away this poor father from the home; he had to take refuge with a relative in another area.
The new man became very harsh on the children, and conditioned Aciro to send all the children away if they are to stay peacefully. She was able to send two of the elder children back to the camp in Uganda to live with some relatives that remained behind. She is now left with four of the children, and expecting another one with the new husband. Those children are being abused constantly in the new family headed by a man not being their father. They do not have adequate clothes, no body mind about their health status; they eat different dishes from the rest of the family, beatings for simple mistake is a common thing for them daily, and no one is thinking of taking them to school one day. Young though, they are well verse with the life of survival for the fittest. One can’t imagine what the future holds for these kids.
The story of Aciro is shared by many families in the country. It is however common among the returnee children since they normally find it very hard adjusting to the new way of life. This is a serious threat to the future of our children, and such can only be abated with full support from everybody, but most of all the government and other development partners like the UNICEF that are concerned about the children welfare. For example, the setting of schools and putting up health centers in all the areas that are receiving the returnees could be one way of solving such problem.