The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the National Ministry of Youths and Sports, the UN, and other partners on Sunday launched the eighth edition of the National Unity Day (NUD), a sports for peace tournament.
The NUD is an event to unite and empower youth through sports and is hosted by JICA and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Speaking during the launch of the tournament in Juba, Edward Setimo, the Director General for Sports at the Ministry of Youths and Sports, said that in this year`s edition, 80 percent of the participants are girls who will participate in women`s football, volleyball, and athletics.
“80 or 90 percent are girls in this tournament and this is the uniqueness of this tournament, the eighth NUD,” he said. “We hope that it will bring more talent to our national team because if you see our national under-17 and under-20 national football teams, they are all the products of the NUD. We hope we can get a girls’ team that can represent us in international games.”
He revealed that the government will continue supporting the annual event as this will be the last edition ICA is financing.
“This will be the last National Unity Day being supported but our minister has stated that we are going to continue funding it as a government with other partners,” Setimo added.
For his part, Tanaka Hiroyuki, the JICA Representative in South Sudan, stated that they have been collaborating with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of General Education and Instruction on the technical cooperation project for the NUD since 2016.
“It is wonderful to see that recently NUD has become widely known to the people of South Sudan, not just as a sports event, but also as an important peace-building opportunity,” he explained. “Sports for Peace and Social Cohesion has been the theme for previous National Unity Days. This theme has been coherent since it started. Sports is a good platform that brings people together.”
He appreciated the efforts of the partners in collaborating and funding the event.
Meanwhile, Tomoko Watanabe, the Charge de Affaires at the Japanese Embassy in South Sudan, said the NUD has been held every year since 2016 except in 2020, to promote peace and unity in South Sudan through sports.
“By holding the NUD every year, those involved in the sports ministry have developed the knowhow to manage the event and the foundations are in place for the South Sudanese government to host the NUD on its own,” she stated. “Today marks the eighth time the event is held continuously. It will create a tournament that young people and athletes can aspire to. It will create the awareness that peace is necessary to continue sports and that we must promote on our own.”
“It has the potential to take route among young people across the country and spread peace and harmony among young people,” Watanabe added.
Youth and Sports Minister Dr. Joseph Geng Akec said President Salva Kiir has directed his ministry to prioritize sports as it has the potential to unite the people but more importantly, it has the potential to give and nourish talent in young people.
“Sports also closes cultural, social, and political barriers that we might have and that is why when we come together as a country to play, we only see unity,” he emphasized. “Sports is going to be our priority as government, as a ministry because it has the potential and ability to unite us that is why we take our time to come to events like this to communicate our vision as a ministry.”