The Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Sudan’s Yei River State, Hillary Luate Adeba has blamed government and non-governmental organizations in the area for failure to prioritize youth development programs through vocational and technical trainings.
Speaking in Yei town on Wednesday, Adeba said the absence of youth schemes has promoted crimes, laziness and a dependency syndrome.
“The colleges have not received good response from the NGOs despite the fact that we lobbied them to support youth empowerment programs through vocational education. I expect that in future, NGOs factor in youth development programs in their planning because preparing for the future of the youth is not only for the church,” said Luate.
He added, “It is our responsibility in society to train our youth”.
The bishop said despite the church’s efforts to establish a youth vocational college in the area, the government and NGOs have not shown anything aimed at empowering young people in the society.
Luate appealed to the state ministry of education, through its technical vocational department, to prioritize youth empowerment.
“The department of technical education in the ministry of education should be able to extend a helping hand to the youth because we all know how desperate the youth are regarding employment and there is a big problem to resolve. This can only be done by offering skills to the youth so that they can be on their own,” he stressed.
According to estimates, 72 per cent of South Sudan’s 12.4 million population are 30 years old and below.