JPO Stories
Helping to build a state
Anu Kuusisto is a Finnish JPO working with UNDP in Southern Sudan.
Interviewing the chairperson of Jonglei Human Rights Association
Anu Kuusisto works as a Programme Officer for UNDP in Juba, Southern Sudan. As a country recovering from civil war, the area of Southern Sudan was a shock for her in the beginning. "Having worked and lived in Kenya prior to this assignment, I do not have the usual Western view of developing African countries where everyone lives in mud huts and is starving away. However, nothing had quite prepared me for the devastation I saw when I arrived in Juba in the beginning of the year. Southern Sudan has suffered so much from decades of civil war and is one of the least developed areas on the planet".
Anu stepped into development cooperation from her studies in international politics and human rights, with an emphasis on international human rights law. UNDP's Rule of Law unit provides support to the different nascent legal instruments, such as the Judiciary of Southern Sudan, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development as well as making sure the dissemination of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement is on-going.
"My work as a Programme Officer varies from representing UNDP in meetings, being an active member of the Gender and Children's Desk Committee to coordinating and chairing the monthly Governance and Rule of Law working group. The major challenge is that everything had to be built from scratch - Southern Sudan has autonomy from the North and has their own Government, their own Interim Constitution and their own laws. So within one country, there are two systems which is also a completely unique situation for UNDP: the Northern office in Khartoum supports the Northern Government and the Juba office in the Southern Government. Most of the policemen being trained in the South are former soldiers with no previous policing experience, which impedes some things. Citizens also do not tend to trust former soldiers because of bad past experiences. Currently there is a joint effort with UNDP and other UN organizations to provide support to the Police to form a Gender and Children's Desk for each of the ten states to provide more gender sensitized treatment of e.g. victims of sexual assaults. This has been a long-term plan that is gradually coming true."
International Women's Day in Juba
A real woman in a long skirt?
"From a place where I could even walk alone to work, Juba has grown rapidly and become more restless after the arrival of returning IDP's and refugees. People are becoming increasingly impatient because things do not happen over night when it comes to development. Restrictions of movement can be an annoyance, particularly because they impede more on women's movement. The traditional view in Southern Sudan on women is that they are regarded as property - it is a heavily patriarchal society. I was even enquired while at work from a police officer whether I was 'someone's wife or someone's daughter' and then referred to as a little girl. Only when I told him that I was getting married soon (a little white lie) did he stop belittling me."
"Women do not really wear trousers in Southern Sudan and it is viewed as manly behaviour. When I wore a long skirt to work as opposed to the pair of trousers I normally wear, some of the female national staff of our office came to tell me that I looked like a proper woman now. This is important to keep in mind when it comes to dealing with traditional leaders as well as Government counterparts - wearing a skirt is seen as a sign of respect towards them."
Anu's home (for the first three months)
A complete change of career
Working in developing countries was not an obvious option for Anu. "I did a complete career turnaround about four years ago. I used to work as a technical writer in the private sector and after a long period of thinking, I felt that my calling was more in development work and human rights. After volunteering in Brazil with an environmental and development NGO, I found my way to study international politics and human rights."
In the end, all the studies have turned out useful. "A good proficiency in languages was important", she reminds, "but even more so having worked and lived in developing countries."
Anu has also had to face prejudices in her home country. "Many people think that the whole Sudan is only about Darfur, which is located in the North Western part of the country and falls under the UNDP Khartoum programmes, not ours. Southern Sudan is almost like a separate country, having their own interim constitution, separate laws, and in 2011 they will have the chance to vote for secession. This complex situation is probably the hardest thing for many people who do not work here to understand. Darfur also tends to draw all the attention away from the desperate situation in the South where help is also needed, as the country has been underdeveloped for so long."
"I would like to continue working in the field and I see myself working abroad for a long time ahead. However, it may not be in a crisis or post-conflict country." Since beginning her mission, she has learned to appreciate small things such as clean water, stable electricity supply. and salad. "I really miss is being able to eat healthy and salad just doesn't exist here."
