The 2013 RVI Juba Lecture series, held in collaboration with the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba, were held on 6-8 March 2013 at the university’s New Hall, addressing the theme ‘Building the Constitution in South Sudan’. The three keynote speakers were Professor Akolda Tier, Chair of the South Sudan Constitutional Review Commission, Jacob Akol, Director of the Gurtong Trust; and David Deng, Research Director at the South Sudan Law Society. The lecture series, widely publicized on local and national radio networks, attracted a diverse range of South Sudanese students, activists, political leaders and members of the international community.
On 6 March 2013, the first in a series of three RVI Juba Lectures, held in collaboration with the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba, took place at the university’s New Hall. The keynote speech on the theme ‘Consulting the Nation’ was given by Professor Akolda Tier, chair of the South Sudan Constitutional Review Commission. The professor responded to comments from a panel that included Zacharia Diing Akol, Director of Training at the Sudd Institute, Henry Swaka, Vice Chair of the South Sudan Civil Society Alliance, and Marcia Dawes of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, under the chairmanship of RVI co-founder Jok Madut Jok, Executive Director of the Sudd Institute.
The second in the RVI Juba Lecture series took place on 7 March 2013. The keynote speech on the theme of ‘Equality and Representation’ was given by Jacob Akol, Chairman of the Association for Media Development in South Sudan. The event chair, Joanna Oyediran of the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa, introduced additional comments from Paleki Matthew Obur, Director of the South Sudan Women’s Empowerment Network, Ben Poggo of the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, and David Deng, Research Director at the South Sudan Law Society.
On 8 March 2013, the third and final RVI Juba Lecture, held in collaboration with the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba, took place at the university’s New Hall. The keynote speech on the theme of ‘Rights and Responsibilities’ was given by David Deng, Research Director at the South Sudan Law Society. The event chair, Jacob Akol, Chairman of the Association for Media Development in South Sudan, introduced additional comments by panellists Merekaje Lorna, Secretary-General of the South Sudan Democratic Engagement Monitoring and Observation Programme, Ambrose Riiny Thiik, the former Chief Justice of South Sudan, and Gabriel Shadar of Miraya FM.
The record of the three evenings of public lectures at the University of Juba resulted in the publication My Mother Will Not Come to Juba: South Sudanese debate the constitution.
