Radio Miraya
2818: Empowering Futures: The Danish Refugee Council's Programmes Impact in Ruweng
Since 2013, Danish Refugee Council has been working tirelessly in ruin administrative area to support refugees, returnees and host communities in the region. One of the standout initiatives has been the establishment of vocational training centres in Ajongdok and Pamir refugee camp, which focus on empowering individuals through skill development. Well, currently 140 students are enrolled in various courses such as tailoring, welding, gear dressing and more, and to learn more about the ongoing work and the impact of this work on the community, we're now joined on the line with our guest Linda Moniarazzi, Tienen Gunda, the area manager for the Danish Refugee Council in the ruin administrative area. Good morning, Linda. Thank you so much for making our time to speak to us today. Good morning. Thank you for welcoming me to this talk show. Right. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Radio Miraya. Yes, let's continue. Good morning. Thank you. Right. Yes, Linda, just to kickstart our conversation, would you please start by giving us an overview of DRCs, which is a Danish Refugee Council's presence and activities in the ruin administrative area. Thank you so much. I would like to thank you for coming me to this talk show and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Radio Miraya for giving Danish Refugee Council the platform to share with listeners information about DRCs, exciting work in the ruin administrative area. So I think my name has already been said. Yes, I'm Linda, and I'm the area manager for DRC in Jam, Jam County, ruin administrative area in South Sudan. So my role specifically is to represent DRC and to oversee the implementation of all humanitarian activities in the area. Maybe just a brief overview, as you have requested, 101 hours ago, DRC started operating in Jam, Jam County in 2013. By then it was funded by Danita and BPRM, and is currently being funded by UNSCR and Danish TV Collection. It is important to share with you the DRC's mission, which is to assist refugees in displaced communities to protect their rights and to empower them towards a better future. So on this talk show, I'm going to talk about DRC's programs being implemented under three sectors, in particular, about the newly introduced digital learning initiative and overall the multiplication of trainings that have impacted the lives of the vulnerable communities and how this has improved the local economy in UN. Right, and let's just get to it. Just tell us more about the different vocational training courses that have been offered at the centres in Ajongtok and Pamir, and how these have been tailored to meet the needs on the ground. Thank you. I think DRC has done quite a lot of work and being supported by UNSCR in partnership. We have supported over 100,386 Sudanese refugees and Ethiopian asylum seekers in the two camps. And then DRC has carefully designed programs looking at the priorities of refugees, which is being addressed with three sectors, camp coordination and camp management, shelter and settlement and economic recovery. So I want to draw the interest for listeners to the economic recovery sector, which focuses mainly on sustainable livelihood programming, conducted in the two vocational training centres located in the two refugee camps, which were established in 2015. So the two training centres currently hold a total of 140 students, 60 female and 18 males from hosts and refugee communities, participating in different training courses, ranging from tailoring, welding, hairdressing, beauty saloon and carpentry, and additional the digital learning, which is the new kid on the block, which is why we are sharing information about this great learning opportunity today. So contributing to this, DRC was supported by UNSCR to renovate one classroom block at the vocational training centre in Ajahn talk refugee camp, which has been transformed into the state-of-the-art blended digital learning space. So the classroom is equipped with 40 laptops, internet access, an overhead projector and the generator for power supply, and specifically for that class, we have 40 students, 15 female and 25 males. So who are enrolled in this blended digital learning this year? We call it blended because it is integrated in other courses, such as business management and literacy, financial literacy. Right. Right. And you mentioned, you mentioned the equipment 40. Would that be enough to serve the population? Currently, this registration was for this year, which is 2024, but we have, we are planning to register over like 100 students, which are going to be covered in the next two to three years for the same digital learning. Right. So what has been the impact of these vocational training programs on the lives of those students who have been able to enroll? And particularly the refugees and returnees. Thank you. I think literacy has achieved quite a milestone, not about milestone in producing skilled students. And what I can gladly say, and I can confidently say, we have approximately 1,300 students that have passed through these VTCs since the establishment in 2015. And some of who are now even business entrepreneurs currently doing business in our local markets today, as well as as carpenters, grocery and restaurant shop owners, tailors, electricians, and of course, farmers in Weng. And these are also born across also the rest of the South Sudan area. So I think through our programs of mentoring and coaching and follow up, there is evidence that individuals who participated in these learning programs are really making income, something that has not been happening before acquiring these skills. And vulnerable households can now meet their basic needs, such as food, clothing, medicines, medical requirements, travel expenses, and also improving their shelter spaces and even being able to further their education. Right. Alinda, thank you so much for making our time to speak to us. Let's speak about gender balance, whatever thoughts are being made to encourage female participation in these programs. Actually, the DRC is excited to register quite an impressive number of female students during this first batch as the digital world is leaving no one behind. And precisely, this is part of meeting DRC's inclusive approach to programming which recognizes women as change makers in the economy by empowering them to actively and meaningfully participate in the most important and most importantly benefit in the economic, social, and political platforms. So as I mentioned before, when we present DRC on any platform, it is also important for us to talk about DRC's global strategy of 2025. That is promoting the world digital principle among others and also being adopted across all sectors. I think you are well aware that, you know, it's all about bringing women on board, making them participate and actively participate in all platforms. And that is what DRC is doing supported by UNICE. Right. Well, thank you so much for that. But really, I'm looking forward to hearing the any success stories that you have. Can you just share with us some success stories that illustrate the positive outcomes of DRC's vocational training initiatives, any? We do have a lot of positive and success stories that are in the market whereby we have had, I think, you know, the influx of the Sudanese who are coming into South Sudan. We have actually managed to carry out some assessments to find out the capacities that they have, the different capacities. They managed to be trained in the different courses that I talked about. Some have opened businesses and some have out there in the markets trying to establish and forming groups and forming the savings and lending association and just trying to, you know, make an extra income and actually building more income streams apart from just the farming parts that people normally do. They're also having small businesses where I think I've managed to mention that they are able to look after themselves, provide educational facilities. Some have already also fed that their education managed to send us both the children to school, maybe even out of South Sudan, in order for them to have a good, better education. Right. Thank you so much, Linda. That really sounds encouraging. Well, as we conclude this, what is your final remark? My final remark is, again, to thank UNSCR and acknowledging UNSCR for the great partnership and collaboration, despite the challenges of funding that have hit the region and the world at large. And I'd also like to commend that these pooled efforts are not only by UNSCR and DRC, but the Commission for Refugee Affairs, the government, the local authority, community leadership and communities themselves. And last, I'd like also to thank Radio Miraya and listeners for their time and interest in DRC's work, as we reinforce the importance of DRC's contribution to protecting the rights, ensuring dignity and empowering communities towards better future in Jang Jang County, Ruan, administrative area in South Sudan. Right. Linda, thank you so much for your time.