International Youth Day Sets Ambitious Agenda
Rock City Playing Ground buzzed as thousands marked International Youth Day in Juba. Minister of Youth and Sports Dr Joseph Geng Aketch urged his audience to trade rifles for textbooks, calling education the lodestar of a “second liberation” aimed at lasting prosperity.
“The future rests on your shoulders; seize it with knowledge and solidarity,” he told the crowd, echoing liberation-era rhetoric while emphasising peace. His remarks resonated with a demographic that accounts for nearly three-quarters of South Sudan’s population.
Education Framed as the New Battlefield
Dr Geng described classrooms as modern trenches, insisting that degrees and vocational skills can rebuild shattered infrastructure faster than conflict ever could. He highlighted government scholarships and technical institutes designed to widen access beyond urban elites.
UN Resident Coordinator Anita Kiki Gbeho added that educated youth accelerate every Sustainable Development Goal, arguing, “Investing in their minds unlocks the fastest engine of social progress.”
Global Partners Rally Behind Youth Vision
Representatives from UNDP, UNFPA and Norwegian People’s Aid pledged continued funding for literacy drives, coding hubs and agribusiness incubators, citing encouraging pilot results in Jonglei and Equatoria.
A joint communiqué noted that South Sudan’s young innovators “turn scarcity into opportunity,” referencing solar-powered irrigation systems built by student engineers.
Legislative Push to Unlock Opportunities
Civil-society group Markaz Al Salam pressed lawmakers to pass four pending bills, including a Student Support Fund and Women and Youth Enterprise Fund. These measures would underwrite tuition and low-interest loans, directly supporting SDGs on poverty, gender equity and decent work.
The proposed Sports and Youth Bill seeks structured leagues and facilities, arguing that organised sport reduces idle-time conflict risks while nurturing national cohesion.
Momentum Builds for Sustainable Development
Speakers stressed partnerships over partisanship. “Youth are not passengers but pilots of change,” MAS Executive Director Asha Majok declared, urging businesses to mentor first-time entrepreneurs.
As evening drums closed the ceremony, volunteers distributed seedlings and voter-education pamphlets, symbolic gestures that framed the ‘second liberation’ as both agricultural and civic. Across provinces, similar events underscored a shared resolve to write a peaceful next chapter.