We are pleased to announce that with support from the Open Society Foundation, Windle Trust International has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Juba, School of Public Service to launch series of workshops on Ethical and Responsible Leadership

Mr. David Masua and Dr. Paul Gal holding agreement signed at the University of Juba.

The Executive Director of Windle Trust International, Mr. David Masua, signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Dr. Paul Gal Atem, Dean of the School of Public Service. The Ethical & Responsible Leadership Programme is intended to train and form a cadre of educators and leaders who will develop ethical leadership practices in South Sudan. The participants will develop an antidote to what is sometimes offered in many contexts as leadership training based on the characteristics of individual ‘great leaders’. It will concentrate instead on what participants actually find themselves doing in their daily messy realities of life in their organisations. This programme is centred on the idea of leadership as a social practice which takes place in groups.

The participants will have the opportunity to discuss with colleagues and reflect on their experiences of leading and managing in their own organisations and will reflect as educators/leaders upon how to encourage others to do this. They will also have a chance to discuss critically some contemporary theories of leading and managing, and to derive from them what is useful for their own organisations and the context of South Sudan. The workshops will guide participants to:

Reflect on their own leadership and management practices in their current organisations with a view to enquiring into the assumptions that they bring to their practice. This will involve reflecting on the theories of leadership currently in use in participants’ organisations, as well as discussing openly some of the difficulties of working in their broader context
Develop reflexivity: in the process of reflection with others, course participants will develop a greater understanding of the way they have developed themselves as leaders/managers.
Develop a better understanding of and skill in working with groups. This will involve participants taking seriously their lived experience of working with the temporary group of participants on the course and paying attention to their own participation. They will develop a greater skill in coping with anxiety and uncertainty.
Collaborate with the facilitator and the School of Public Service to put together a curriculum which will serve as the basis for future programmes on Ethical & Responsible Leaders based at the School of Public Services, University of Juba.

Developing leadership is a pillar of Windle Trust International’s work and we believe it do be essential to developing a sustainable future for South Sudan, Sudan, and East Africa as a whole. It is imbued in many of our projects, particularly in our scholarships. Participants in the Postgraduate Programme for example undertake a values-centred leadership curriculum alongside their academic, with workshops throughout the period of their study. The blend of academic rigour and practical leadership development is designed to equip our students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to lead change in their respective sectors, driving forward development in South Sudan, Sudan, and the wider East Africa region.