In South Sudan, woman-led Police Community Relations Committee brings development to a community

Northern Bahr el Ghazal - In Majokyithiu, a small town tucked somewhere in the Eastern part of Aweil County in South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal region, women are jubilating and singing at the top of their voices. Their joy is evident and the broad smiles on their faces tell it all.  a huge part of their problems has just been resolved.  A team from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is here to hand them a recently rehabilitated community water yard. It will serve some 8,000 community members. They will no longer have to walk long distances in search of water. 

And there is one more reason to be joyous. All these happened under the leadership of a woman. A first for this community. Ayak Ayat Rou, 35-year-old mother of two turned things around when she expressed her interest to stand for the position of chairperson of Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC).  
 

Tasked with the responsibility of facilitating the interaction between communities and law enforcement actors to identify and resolve security issues, the PCRC which Ayak leads -the first woman to do so- has 30 members, 11 of whom are women. 

“In the past, no woman would raise her head to speak in public, we were expected to farm, fetch firewood/water and roof houses as if we had nothing else to offer for our community’s development” says Ayak Ayat, chairperson of the PCRC in Majokyithiu.

Like everywhere else in South Sudan, communities in Majokyithu have always been patriarchal. Women’s roles were limited to looking after children, performing household chores, and farming. They rarely attended community meetings except when needed to answer questions. 

In 2021, IOM introduced, with the support of the Government of Japan, the Community Policing approach in Majokyithiu and other border crossing communities in South Sudan to strengthen collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the community to build their resilience to security risks while encouraging the participation of women in community initiatives such as the PCRC. 

“Other women were not given chance by their husbands to participate in the programme because they still hold the belief that a woman’s place should be at home in the kitchen. I was lucky my husband allowed me to attend the meetings,” says Ayak 

The PCRC had to elect leaders who would be a link between the community and the authorities. Ayak decided to contest in the election competing with two other men. Determined, she gave it her whole during campaigns, presenting her ideas and making sure she was not pulled back or intimidated by the male competitors, or echoes of disbelief by some community members. 
 

“When I was elected to be the chairperson of this committee, it was a shock to the men who always thought a woman cannot be a leader. How could a woman lead us?  What will she bring to the table that can benefit the community? They kept on asking these questions.”.

Identified by the PCRC as priority for support, IOM rehabilitated a water yard and trained the team to manage it. 
 

“We were given chance to identify at least one priority area for development in our community, the women saw that water was a very big problem because we would walk for more than one hour to fetch water, yet this water was not even clean for human consumption,” explains Ayak. 
“Today we have clean water in our community because of the efforts of women. We are changing the culture that a woman cannot contribute towards the development of Majokyithiu”

The PCRC -a community policing concept is central to rebuilding trust between the community and the law enforcement while responding to the most pertinent issues raised by community members. 

“Because of Community Policing and the formation of the PCRC, there is trust between members of the community and the police.  Previously, we used to look at police as enemies and the police could consider the community as criminals.  

“This programme has helped each of us to understand our roles in the community.” Ayak Ayat.  

IOM’s community policing programme links individuals, communities, and institutions, and engages with community members that do not traditionally or currently have a voice in decision-making, such as women, youth, people with disabilities, and ethnic minorities. 

“Today, I feel like flying because part of my dream has come true. I always felt sad seeing women suffering to get water for household use. Going long distance to fetch water and sometimes being attacked on the road. There were so many cases of gender-based violence against women as they went about looking for water.” 

This water yard is our savior” asserts Ayak.

Ayak says her other priority is adult education for women.
 

“I am looking forward to a day when my fellow women and I will be able to read and write, this will help us explain our problems better to people who bring support to our community and not rely on translators” concludes Ayak  

IOM’s Building Resilience at Northern borders in Responding to Human Security Risk (Transnational Crimes and Public Health) project, run by the Migration Management Unit is supported by the Government of Japan.

This story was written by Nabie Loyce, IOM South Sudan Media and Communications Assistant