Over 90 youth in Yei River County in Central Equatoria State successfully graduated from a two-year training in peacebuilding and business entrepreneurship conducted by the Whittaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI) over the weekend.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj during the graduation ceremony on Saturday, the WPDI program coordinator, Gaga Frank, said the 95 youths were drawn from the five payams of Yei River County and neighboring counties.
“There were 95 trainees who came from the five payams of Yei River County and youth from outside the county because Yei is a cosmopolitan town,” he said. “The training was based on two pillars, peacebuilding and conflict resolution education and business and entrepreneurship skills the training took two years.”
Khemis Faustino, a beneficiary of the training from Mugwo Payam said the training was helpful and has also transformed his life.
“Regarding peace and conflict resolution, it has helped in addressing my personal problems and I have acquired a lot of business skills,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johnson Poru Hillary, the chairperson of the youth association in Yei River County, said the training aimed at equipping the young people with peace-building approaches as well as developing them economically.
“This training is aimed at equipping the young people on peacebuilding approaches as well as develop ourselves economically because we actually understand that without the knowledge or given skills, we would not be able to develop as young people,” he said. “For this reason, this training has been conducted four times until the graduation of these youth. Some of the youth dropped out.”
Poru urged the government to initiate youth support programs and ensure that youth enterprises are not over-taxed but rather protected to reduce unemployment.
The training brought together 50 male and 45 female participants from across Yei River County and the neighboring counties of Lainya, Morobo, and Kajo-Keji respectively.