The Third National Youth Convention to elect the new leadership of the South Sudan National Youth Union started in Juba on Friday.
The event organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports brought together 137 delegates from the country’s ten states and three administrative areas, representatives from the diaspora, and people living with disability.
The convention is also expected to address key issues affecting the youth and foster a sense of unity and purpose among the delegates.
Six candidates are vying for the position of chairperson.
Speaking during the opening of the convention in Juba, Presidential Affairs Minister Bangasi Joseph Bakosoro urged youth to discuss their issues with a sense of unity and purpose.
“I would like to assure youth of the leadership’s support for the growth of youth, morally, politically, and socially, we are grateful to see you coming with all the efforts you have and with all the energy to come and sit in this hall to discuss your affairs,” he said. “I appeal to all of you, to encourage you in this convention, to discuss freely in any way that you need and guided by laws, you discuss freely, fairly, and reach a conclusion.”
Minister Bakosoro added: “You have your bill to discuss and pass, discuss it fairly.”
For his part, Dr. Joseph Geng Akech, the Minister of Youth and Sports, said he was optimistic that the discussions would be fruitful.
“As for this election, some would say there will be losers but I would say they would all be winners. There will be no loser because you would vote peacefully and you would respect one another,” he said. “You would prioritize your country and so all of us will win, doing so makes all winners and makes the country a winner.”
The youth minister said the convention is taking place at the time the country and its leadership are preparing for general elections.
South Sudan Youth Union (SSYU) was established in a month after the country gained independence from Sudan in July 2011.
The primary aim of its establishment is to bring youth together under one umbrella so that they can collectively present their demands to the government.