A conference to promote the role of youth in peace and security mechanisms commenced on Thursday in South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, according to an official from the state peacebuilding ministry.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, Peter Tong Garang, the Director-General at the Ministry of Peacebuilding, said the workshop is aimed at strengthening the roles of young women and men in peacekeeping and security maintenance.
“Today (Thursday) we are having a consultative workshop on the role of youth in peace and security promotion in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State,” he said. “The workshop is being attended by 62 youths and the objective is to identify youth groups and organizations, conduct consultations with young women and men across the state, mapping out challenges and recommendations on how best they can participate in peace processes.”
For his part, the deputy chairperson of the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Youth Union, Marko Manut Majok, said their task is to preach peace and reconciliation messages among local communities.
“We are very happy with this workshop and we will be the peace ambassadors to our community,” he said. “I thank the organizations that funded our workshop and we are also proud of our government for supporting us and this means that we will work closely.”
The two-day conference is being attended by over 60 participants from various youth networks and it is being facilitated by the state peacebuilding ministry and Community Initiative Development Association (CIDA) among others.