Dukhan Jundit is a researcher located in the Upper Nile State. Having been a journalist for 15 years, Dukhan interviews communities in order to discover and understand issues faced in the areas. He is then able to report back to the Bridge Network with updates and conflict analysis. This is used as part of the Bridge Network’s work for the World Food Programme on Measuring Safety and Security.

For Dukhan, the Measuring Safety Security research is important as, through his research, ‘we can empower the community to make their own food and produce enough so that they can be given out’. Through these changes, he argues that conflict within areas was reduced, furthered through his discouragement of violence in communities. He also claims that, through nuanced understanding that often only South Sudanese people can obtain, these benefits can be made more effective. He states ‘This is because, when you talk about South Sudan and how the conflict is going and the context of the situation, it is best known by the population of South Sudan. It is very advisable to give these opportunities to South Sudanese because they know more about how the situation changes, and they can use dialects to get a bit more information’.

The benefits of his research are uncountable. Dukhan argues that he ‘absolutely believe[s] that [his] research is going to benefit South Sudan, because we do give more information about the cause of the conflict, provide comments about the way forward and how the conflict can be resolved. We also provide information to international NGOs, and they should act accordingly… We give them guidelines about how to create a plan for the future of the nation… [he] believes that this research will benefit them [the South Sudanese community] not only now, but in generations and generations down.’