South Sudan rural youth to peacefully compete for cattle

By James Gatdet Dak

August 23, 2009 (JUBA) — The cattle-owning rural youth in the volatile cattle-rustling areas in Southern Sudan may soon start to peacefully compete for the cattle in an attempt to divert their attention from acquiring the animals illegally and through the use of violence.

Southern Sudan has been embroiled in armed inter and intra-community deadly conflicts caused by factors that include competition over cattle, water points and grazing lands as well as revenges for past cold blood murders and killings during direct confrontations.

Child trade, theft or abduction has always factored in as another cause for the violence.

The Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, discussed on Friday with officials from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) the possibility of initiating sports activities by the Agency as a package for the rural youth in the region.

The idea is to create various kinds of rural sports activities and centers in the villages that would keep the youth busy and help divert their attention from the kind of violence which has become one of the biggest insecurity challenges continuously faced by the semi-autonomous government in the South.

Thousands of people have been killed and about a quarter of million others are believed to have been displaced in the ten states for the last four years alone of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the 21 years of the recent North-South armed conflict.

However, officials in Southern Sudan believe that there are other internal and external invisible hands which have contributed to the perpetuation and continuation of the violence among the civil population.

Different kinds of sports or recreational activities would be introduced in the villages and played frequently after which respective final winners (teams) within the respective communities would be paid in form of a cow, etc.

The region is racing against time towards the expected conduct of general elections in April 2010 and referendum in January 2011 in which the people of Southern Sudan would decide to either confirm the current unity of Sudan or opt to create an independent country.

Officials are however worried that the upsurge of violence in the region may not provide a peaceful environment for the exercises and will also continue to make it difficult for the fighting communities to benefit from the peace dividend.

More than 95% of members that directly participate in the violence in the rural communities are believed to be from the youth category.

“We want to initiate activities that would divert their [youth] attention from the violent cattle-rustling,” Dr. Machar told the USAID officials.

He said the Government of Southern Sudan will carry out both voluntary and forced disarmament exercise throughout the region, but intends to use the ‘carrot and stick’ kind of approach by rewarding through the activities those youth members who will respond positively.

USAID would provide the funding for the activities as part of the Agency’s projects that are geared towards arresting insecurity in Southern Sudan.

“You can pay the winner what they think is of value to them, and that is the cow,” Machar explained.

Majority of the population in Southern Sudan are from pastoralist communities who keep cattle as a source of food, income and for payment of dowries in marriages.

He said the activities would gradually attract the youth that would in turn accept to refrain from the use of violence and be willing to voluntarily handover their guns to the authority.

“We should persuade them to handover the guns before we come in to take them [by force],” he said.

Machar also told the Agency officials to assist the government in constructing roads in Jonglei state to connect the various state counties and with their headquarters, Bor.

Besides forceful disarmament and the initiative to introduce correctional activities, the government also embarks on implementing basic services delivery projects such as in the area of provision of water for both humans and animals in order to reduce conflicts over natural water points.

It also embarks on initiating inter and intra-community peace and reconciliation conferences, implementing other basic services projects such as in the areas of education, health and micro financing and strengthening the law enforcement agencies in the region to effectively and efficiently keep law and order and bring to book instigators of violence.

(ST)