Over the past year, a fellowship has built a human-centered early warning network across South Sudan. For Florence Gume, a monitoring fellow from Western Equatoria, that network is a lifeline—connecting her to female journalists nationwide to detect threats, share strategies, and trigger protection faster. This community-based early warning and protection system connects monitors to detect risks, share strategies, and trigger rapid response together, reports DEBORAH YAR:
YAR: Good morning, Florence. Thank you for joining. My first question is: How has the fellowship helped you, whether socially or in your work, as a female journalist?
FLORENCE: The fellowship has been so nice because it has been connecting us across more than 10 states plus the three administrative areas. It has been like kind of a network, connecting us with other female journalists whom I could not even see before, but through the fellowship I am able to know them.
It has gathered us all in one place during the conference, where we listen to each other’s challenges and how they are doing their work. The fellowship has been so impressive.
The fellowship has helped in the way whereby it brings colleagues together. You share experiences, you share your challenges, then you come up with a way forward—how you can handle challenges and how you can do your work accordingly.
I also encourage this fellowship to continue into this new year. If the plans are there, I encourage that this fellowship should continue. It has been helping really well.
YAR: Right. Okay, please. We will look into that and very soon we’ll give you feedback. Thank you so much.
