Nairobi Gathering Sets Ambitious Tone
In Nairobi, nine young South Sudanese change-makers stepped onto a continental stage, joining hundreds at the 2nd All Africa Youth Congress 2025 themed “Africa: My Home. My Future.” The five-day meeting invited participants to imagine a self-reliant continent.
Nurtured by the All-Africa Conference of Churches, the forum blended faith leaders, tech innovators and grassroots activists, underscoring how spiritual networks still shape civic debate across the continent (Standard Zone News).
Self-Funded Delegation Symbolises Resolve
Delegation members, aged 18 to 35, paid the 100-dollar registration themselves, topping AACC logistical support. Their gesture projected confidence from a nation often seen only through conflict headlines.
“Travel was hard, yet we came to prove South Sudanese youth shape Africa’s destiny,” said team leader Mboriini Ceasar Eliaba, who serves in the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.
Debating Migration and Trafficking Realities
Panels on migration, human trafficking and modern slavery resonated sharply with the South Sudan team, many recalling reports of recruiters luring jobseekers along porous borders.
“I discovered trafficking already affects villages near Juba; I must raise awareness at home,” one participant observed, vowing to engage church youth groups upon return.
Education, Jobs, Peace Top Priority List
Beyond trafficking, discussions dissected unemployment, education gaps and insecurity, challenges the delegation argued could be eased through regional cooperation, vocational training and sustained peace efforts.
One speaker urged peers to channel youthful energy toward constructive change, not violence, echoing messages long promoted by community mediators in Wau, Torit and Malakal.
Turning Congress Inspiration into Action
As Nairobi’s closing hymn faded, the South Sudanese mapped next steps: social-media dialogues, church forums and awareness drives on safe migration, all timed before the next Congress in 2027.
“They must attend for ideas, not allowances. Our voices matter for Africa’s tomorrow,” a delegate concluded, capturing the Congress mantra that youth are the continent’s most renewable resource.