Noel Remasu works as the Communications and Tech Support person for the RSH South Sudan Hub. He works closely with the National Associate to promote the Hub and supports day-to-day activities. He has over 8 years of experience in the field of Information Technology, particularly in developing software applications, network infrastructures, security and managing online platforms.
If you were to ask me 2 years ago what safeguarding was, I would properly tell you a cybersecurity version of what safeguarding is. I didn’t know what safeguarding is until I joined the South Sudan RSH Hub.
I am a computer science enthusiast and spent most of my time writing code and developing application software but now, I advocate for safeguarding and protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment wherever I go.
“How did that happen?” you might ask. When I joined the South Sudan RSH Hub team, I joined as a Communications and Technical Support person. My role is to support the National Associate and the Hub in general in facilitating communications and outreach events. But as time went by, I picked an interest in learning and understood more about what the Hub was doing in my community and my country at large.
Safeguarding concepts resonated with me because I believe It is a basic human right for a person to live in a safe environment away from harm or abuse and they should, in no circumstances, be exploited regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity or religion
South Suan being a war-torn country, a lot of children and women are vulnerable to Sexual Abuse and Harassment thus I felt it is important for me to learn more about safeguarding and protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment in order to further educate my community on safeguarding matters. Secondly, I felt this was important for me because South Sudan lack experts in the field of safeguarding.
So I started paying close attention to every online or in-person training my team conducted while I was being tech-savvy. I asked a lot of questions – and believe me when I say “a lot”. Gladly my team was very supportive and never got bored or tired of answering my questions, and they have been instrumental in my journey. Another essential resource in my journey was the RSH website, which has a lot of resources that are easy to understand and contextualise. In addition, RSH also offers a free online training on safeguarding.
I gained my confidence and ability to speak professionally of safeguarding when I attended the first South Sudan RSH mentorship programme in September 2021. This was a 5-day intensive training meant to equip mentors with the necessary skills and knowledge about safeguarding. While I was not officially one of the trainees, being in the room providing technical support during a hybrid session for 5 days felt like I was a trainee.
Since engaging intensively in safeguarding concepts through supporting the delivery of mentorship and receiving my own training on safeguarding internally from our expert team, I have delivered training for more than 80 CSOs operating in Juba, Wau and Torit and supported mentors and organisations in policy development and documents review.
Safeguarding has now become a big part of my life. Whenever I go out to networking events or private gatherings, I speak highly of safeguarding and encourage my colleagues and friends to learn more about safeguarding and protecting their employees and business at large.