Adam Uchalla Ungom's Story: The Council of Elders Countering GBV
Recognizing the importance of local structures in the Protection of Civilians Sit (POC), NP is continuously providing capacity building to key and influential groups in the community, such as the Community Council of Elders. These groups can be strong allies when it comes to GBV prevention and response within the community.
ADAM UCHALLA UNGOM, 49 years of age, is the Deputy Chairperson for Anti-Corruption of the Community Council of Elders in Juba POC3. With the outbreak of fighting in July 2016, he was one of the IDPs who ran to the POC to seek refuge. He now lives here. Adam hails from Aweil in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State and belongs to the Luo (Jurchol) tribe. He is married with four children who live in Aweil, Khartoum and Juba. He has formerly worked as a Basic Level Teacher and as a government official.
As an active member of the Council of Elders, Adam participated in the different trainings conducted by NP for the Council, among which Gender Based Violence (GBV) Prevention and Response, Psychological First Aid (PFA) and Human Rights and Access to Justice for GBV Survivors. The training has helped him in performing his role as an officer of the Council. According to his own words, Adam used to struggle to understand the different types of violence that are happening in the POC, even stating that he used to be ignorant to GBV issues, laws and individual rights. It was only after attending the NP’s workshops when he realized that people are traumatized by the civil war in the country and that most of the violence in the POC is GBV related, with women as the most affected.
These trainings have empowered Adam with the skills necessary to play an important role in the community. On several occasions, he responded to child abuse cases, reaching out to parents beating their children to sensitize them to the concepts of child’s rights abuse and violations. Additionally, Adam works hard to prevent domestic violence, notably reminding the community that peace within the community starts with peace within the household, and continuously promotes respect of women and children’s rights. Thanks to the human rights training, he – as well as the Bench Court and High Court members – is now better able to address GBV cases that are brought to his attention, notably by adapting traditional laws so they better match international human rights frameworks.
Adam is now advocating for training workshops to be conducted to other relevant community groups, such as youth groups, women’s groups, teachers and students, trade unions, etc. Inspired by what NP has been doing in the community, Adam would like to further involve himself, notably by taking part in the GBV awareness activities NP is conducting so as to pave a way free of violence and ignorance towards gender-based violence. Adam emphasized the importance of the role played by NP, with work towards changing attitudes with regards to GBV and contributing to building more peaceful societies.
