UN official pledges support for Jonglei youth projects
December 17, 2012 (BOR) – The United Nations Assistant to Secretary General for peace building, Judy Cheng, has pledged support for youth projects in South Sudan’s troubled Jonglei state to help reduce conflict in the young country’s most populous state.
“The purpose of my visit is to meet the governor, see some of the projects that have been successful in trying to bring peace because the whole idea we went to start programs in the state with the peace building fund,” she told a media briefing in Bor, the state capital.
Cheng could not however specify which youth projects were key in fostering peace among communities in the state.
According to the Sudan’s 2008 Housing and Population census, 70% of the population are aged between 18 and 40 and therefore considered to be a young person in South Sudanese culture.
The UN Assistant to the Secretary General said more focus would be on provision of vocational training services to the youth, many of whom are engaged in crimes and conflict-related activities.
“Vocational training is one of the major operations we [are] going to be funding,” emphasized Cheng, while citing carpentry, masonry and tailoring as the key areas of focus.
Over the years, disputes over water points and grazing fields during the dry season have been some of the main sources of conflict between the tribes in Jonglei.
“We are going to consider boreholes as second source of conflict because we know in this country that lack of water for cattle as well as for human consumption is another source of the conflict in the state,” Cheng remarked.
Last month, the Government of South Sudan and its development partners unveiled a three-year water project, seeking to reduce conflict in Jonglei state.
The project, officials told Sudan Tribune, will assist in harvesting water in the country’s most conflict- prone state, ensuring that youth; who currently spend about a half-year moving to other areas with cattle in search of water, stay within their localities.
Meanwhile, Jonglei State Governor, Kuol Manyang, also briefed the senior UN official about the ongoing disarmament exercise in the state. The process was launched in March in response to widespread raids and counter raids in the state has killed around 2,000 people in the last two years, according to UN figures.
“We have 11 counties in the state and 10 counties are now full secure because of the disarmament process and implementation of the peace program,” Manyang told the UN official.
In Pibor County, the scene of much of the cattle raiding related violence earlier this year, there is a localised rebellion battling the South Sudan army (SPLA).
The people of Jonglei are for peace, according to the governor, but poverty makes them violate the peace accord signed between the states various ethnic groups in May this year.
The Governor, however, encouraged the UN to provide vocational training, which he said helps in promotion of social activities such as football among the youth. He also appealed to the UN to extend micro-finance services to women in the state.
(ST)