SOUTHERN SUDAN OLDER PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION (SSOPO)

Above are the group of woment presenting their product on the exhibition day



SOUTHERN SUDAN OLDER PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION (SSOPO)

Southern Sudan Older People’s Organization (SSOPO) is a local NGO, non profit making, charitable organization, established in 1999, to work with and for the aged.

REASONS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NGO
In traditional society, the elderly (aged) people were revered and respected for their wisdom and experience. Their counseling was sought in times of crises and they are the vehicles through which traditional customs, behavior and values were passed from one generation to the next.
Today, those traditions have been forgotten by the present generations. Furthermore, Southern Sudan older people do not enjoy the privileged position they once assured of, much as they play a role in peace building and reconstruction of the South. The prevailing negative attitude to wards them by many of us (society) has cause them a lot of challenges and suffering. To mention few of those problems and the suffering they are encountering day by day, for instance, poverty, poor housing, lack of adequate food and nutrition and physical disabilities. To make it more challenging, the government has no policy to cater the needs of this people, lack of active older people activist and Sudan conflicts has cause more harm than good.

SSOPO’S WORK
The Southern Sudan older people’s organization, advocate for the effort of the older people’s committee and the rights and needs of older people in Southern Sudan. They continue to lobby the ministry of gender, social welfare and religious affairs; Goss to ensure that national policy on older people is implemented and taken care of.

VISIONSSOPO’s vision is seeing a society that is concerned and catering for the needs of the older people. Therefore, there existent is to improve the quality of lives of older people and the community they live in.

TRAININGThe Southern Sudan older people’s organization has in place five (5) months of basic skills training in Tailoring and Embroidery for women and the youth in the older people’s head households in Juba.
It started in 2007 and has graduated 83 graduates in three (3) batches. Training begins in July to November. The next in take in January will be for one year and only thirteen are needed for the training of 2009. The conditions for application, the person must be a woman or youth caring for the older people or orphan and returnee (IDPs).