Radio Miraya
2651: What is Your Message for Peace? Emerging Narratives of Peace in South Sudan
What is a message of peace? What is a question that all of us at the very least think of, if not try to answer? The South Sudan Council of Charters and young people from Anatabhan have been answering this question in a series of dialogues convened by the Sanjidio, with support from the Government of Canada. Now we want to talk about this initiative and which has gained momentum here in South Sudan with the goal of spreading peace messages. Well, I would like to tell you that we have a full house in the studio this morning. We are joined by Eric Malek, the youth coordinator from the South Sudan Council of Churches. We have Jamsa Khat from Anatabhan. We also have Elizabeth Boyle from the community of Sanjidio from the Canadian Embassy Gabriel. Bishop is here with us. Good morning. And thank you so much for making our time to speak to us this morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Right. So let's start with you Elizabeth from the Sanjidio. Help us understand this project. Is it titled, "Imarging Narrities for Peace in South Sudan?" What is it about? Exactly. And thank you so much for having us this morning. So as some of you might know, the community of Sanjidio has been engaged in South Sudan with the political dialogue between the non-signatories of the art axis and the artichonu. And within the context of this work, we recognized it was really important that we ensure what we're doing is inclusive. And it's not just Rome-led, but it's a South Sudanese-led process. So with the support of the Government of Canada, we were able to expand and take seriously the question of, how is civil society, young people, women and religious leaders, a part of the work we're doing. So since 2021, we've been coming and doing listening sessions with hundreds of civil society and have begun working with the South Sudan Council of Churches. And Ana Taban, to imagine, what does it look like for youth to take on a personal responsibility for peace and to build a culture of encounter and peace here in South Sudan? Right. And Jim's coming to you as a South Sudan. As a South Sudan is a South Sudan, rather, Council of Churches, what activities are... Okay, let me talk to you as Ana Taban. I mean, what have you brought to this dialogue? Yeah, we've been engaged a lot through this dialogue because we felt it's our part, and it's our role, you know, to initiate these kind of activities because, you know, our country's breakdown, and then the youth have been influenced in so negative ways. And then you see, this is our role, you know, so to take it up and then to venture in among the youth and tell them about their energy to be used in a positive way. Right, right. How many youth have you been able to reach out to? I don't know, so many. So yeah, so maybe 2000, maybe. So, but we try to, we send a video and then South Sudan Council of Churches, and then through the Canadian funding towards us. So last year, we managed to go to different churches and work with different youth from these different churches. You know, churches also run as a biggest influence among the communities because when you go to the church, you find the 64 tribes in the church. You cannot find them in a community setting. So it's so different. That's why I said, yes, here is the platform where can we give the space, free space for the youth to raise their concern. Right, talking about concerns. What are some of the concerns that have been highlighted? Yes, yeah, a lot of things. For example, unemployment and abuse of drug use because of the nothing to be doing. And you see this intergenerational conflict that happens in their communities. The tribal lines even that affecting inside the church, you know, so the church are divided, you know, in the tribal and ethnic lines. So these are the things that, you know, when you look into it, it's the youth being used, you know, in these kind of activities. No, coming to you, Alec, as the South Sudan Council of Churches, right? So to tell us, how have you been involved in this project? Oh, thank you for hosting us this morning. Irene, I've been looking forward to be hosted by you. You're welcome. Yeah, Senator Judea has mentioned by Elizabeth Kim in 2021 to have, you know, in person conversations and making sure the people of South Sudan are part of the process, not only the whole out groups. So they did not only create the space for the whole out groups, but as well created the space for the young people. And through this, I would underscore the young people's participation during the coming of the Holy Father and the two other eminent global child leaders to South Sudan through an initiative called Youth Peace Pilgrimage, where the youth had organized several outreach campaigns, awareness raising, what it means for a country to host such influential leaders at the aspect of the child Christianity. And then what is our role? What messages should we send out there as young people? And the initiative created a space for the young people. And also it gave us the voice to send, you know, to voice out our ideas and it was sort of, you know, a space for inclusivity and making decisions in the process of the reception of the Holy Father and the rest of the eminent child leaders. And besides that yesterday, we commenced the exchange learning programs for young people in the member churches to the South Sudan Council of churches. And in these, the exchange learning programs act is like, when James mentioned about the consent, one of them is mentorship. So we learn from each other. What Gabrielle knows is probably, I don't know as well, and I may know something she doesn't know. So that's a space where we come together, you know, share our ideas on unity, voicing our, you know, our ideas on, you know, peace, peace and stability in the country. And it's just to do away with the division and that hatred we've had through the, you know, the nearly seven to ten years of the country. And that's really very important. And how is it coming through? Are people warming up to the idea? Of course. It was actually a call for the young people. All right. Now, Gabrielle Canada's Peace and Stabilization Operations Program is funding these peace activities. What prompted the Canadian government to come in with these assistance? Well, thank you so much again for hosting us. For Canada, we're really proud to have a feminist international assistance policy and a feminist foreign policy, which at its core is about supporting gender equality, but also asking questions about which groups have been traditionally excluded from a lot of different processes, especially decision-making processes. When the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program, Peace Ops, under the Government of Canada, decided to fund this initiative as Elizabeth was sharing, we recognize that it was a really unique way of bringing together both the signatories and non signatories to the peace process. And so we have a really strong emphasis on supporting initiatives that convene dialogue. And I remember in late 2022, in the lead-up to the Ecumenical Visit, when Santa Judeo was visiting Juba and spoke to the embassy about this, we were just so excited because we had heard from Santa Judeo that there was this really exciting energy from the youth in advance of the Ecumenical Visit, the visit of the Holy Father, and that youth from Anatabon, from the South Sudan Council of Churches, proactively came with their own ideas, for example, for this youth peace pilgrimage, and that with Canadian funds, this was able to happen in a flexible way. So we were just so excited because this is in line with a lot of different programming that we do, where we not only support, we work with initiatives that engage decision makers, but also people that, like youth, or like people who are from more remote regions, who maybe don't always have their voices heard, and especially initiatives that bring those two groups together. So for us, it was really a no-brainer, and we were just really energized by the initiative that was taken. It's also in line with the support for pluralism that Canada has, and we were again just really heartened to hear about some of the ways that some of the interfaith dialogue brings together different ethnic groups, different groups that may not have a chance to otherwise talk. So this was a big factor as well, and at the end of the day, Canada is here as a committed partner in the international community, but it's not for us to impose ideas or impose values or initiatives. So we're here to support, made in South Sudan, approaches to peace, democracy, equality, inclusion. So for us, it was a no-brainer. Now, Elizabeth, why did you particularly focus on the young people? So as we were coming, our approach to centigridio is always to listen, to listen first before speaking, because we have so much to learn. And it was through that speaking that we encountered so many young people, and we recognized that despite the challenges, despite being raised in a place of conflict or in families that have experienced violence, there was still a hope and a drive for peace in young people, and young people make up the majority of this country, and the future of the country is going to be the young people who are learning today. So it was those two realities, it was really through the friendships that we made with youth, and the listening that we did that we realized anything we have to do has to be done in tandem, step-by-step, with the young people. It has to have their voices at the forefront, especially has to have the voices of young women who are really leaders now in their own right, but need to be supported to strengthen their capacity and their ability to grow. Thank you so much, Elizabeth. Now, Jim, you spoke about the young people, and they're not having what to do, and because of these, some of them find themselves, you know, coming against the law. Well, young people in Southstone are often part of these narratives that they are driving violence in our communities. How can this be changed so that young people can indeed be part of a collective peace building, both inwards and outward channels, indeed? Yes, that's why I say that young people are always excluded. They say they're an experience. So young people need to be provided with space, with opportunities, be provided with knowledge, with the capacity building. Young people need to be pushed, so you cannot say them you're young class, no, no, no. You have no say, no, no. You listen to them also. Listen to their little grievances that they have, because this is the only way, you know, to support that. Right. Yes, I would like to jump in. Yes, sure. Given the population of the young people being said the highest in the country, and looking at how our economy is really crashing down, that gives the young people the excuse to, you know, can easily be a side of their feet and joint. You could see how the gang crimes are growing, especially in the city, with a call and the call for young people not being engaged. So they have called for several things to do in these processes or engagement with them, like sports, peace tournaments, they said this, that is best being them back together and reconnect, because some of them have been, you know, the call for the young people to be reintegrated in the society is very important, and that we could do it through the awareness, raising civic education to remind ourselves, build their capacity. And also, James talked about economic empowerment, like what kind of entrepreneurial skills can these young people learn to be self-reliance, and you know, and that will disengage them from being influenced by the leaders. They always point out that the young people are not being engaged, and the leaders get the chance to always, you know, influence them to carry out or perpetuate violence. So we say this young people can, you know, if they lead the process, they will realize what is their role, and they will realize, yes, this is the way to go. This, our future is different from what we've been doing before. And not only that, I've been part of the processes that have been conducted by the South Sudan Council of Judges at the grassroots, the peace processes. I was impressed the young people calls for their peers to be part of the mediation processes in Malakal and in Western Equatorial and Eastern Equatorial region. I mean, they said, we also want to see the young faces in the mediation team, so we can be freely having that space to have conversation with the young people. So building their capacity as well in the aspect of mediation and reconciliation helps to foster, you know, bringing peace in the country. That's right. Thank you so much, Aric. Now, Jim's coming back to you. I know we spoke about the challenges that the young people voiced while you interacted with them, but what are their aspirations? What are their dreams? What did they share with you? It's a lot. When we sit down with them, you know, they're focusing on major things. And these major things is very simple. You know, they ask for education, good health system, their demand for economic reforms. And these things cannot happen only if the leadership of the country listen to the voice of the young people. Young people are suffering down there, they are crying down there. There is no opportunities to them and they need these opportunities to be provided to them. You see, because young people are the part of the community and they have that energy to bring a positive impact just not to their communities, but to the country at large, because you can just mobilize the young people in the wrongdoing, but you can mobilize them to do what is right. And it can be part of this change in the country. That's right. Thank you so much, Jim. And as we conclude, Gabriel, regarding this work, the initiative is expanding and the movement is still gaining momentum. Are you as a Canadian delegation offering your support beyond the critical time in South London to have a sustainable piece? We are in discussions with San Tejidio right now about some of the specifics about that, but certainly we have a number of different other funding streams that we've targeted very intentionally to enabling environment. We do know there's some decisions that have to be made with regards to some of the specifics around the elections that are slated for December 2024. But from Canada's perspective, really, really core basic values such as democracy, freedom of expression, youth's meaningful public participation, women's participation. These are all things that, regardless of the specifics or how many levels of elections, what type of elections will continue to be relevant issues and aren't every democracy around the world. So we're funding a number of different initiatives, including through the stabilization program. We've taken a three-pronged approach from Canada. We're funding larger initiatives where our money goes a bit further because there's many donors involved. We're also funding two Canadian organizations, so Journalists for Human Rights, who many of your listeners will know well, and the Sentinel Project with a focus on countering mis-disinformation and hate speech around elections, including by engaging regulators, many of whom have asked for these projects to come back. And then thirdly, and I think this is the most important one, we have an initiative called the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, CFLI, and it's actually the only funding stream that Canada has that's managed directly from our embassies. Everything else is centralized in Ottawa. And what this is, it's a funding stream that's meant for small local organizations who may not be at a stage where they would qualify for funding from larger donors. So we provide very modest $20,000 to $30,000 grants, primarily to women and youth led organizations with a view to having strong regional representation, so not just from Juba. And we've chosen for the past year to focus our CFLI funding on democracy, on human rights. We're gearing up to launch the next round of CFLI funding, so I'll take this opportunity to announce it, selfishly plug that and to encourage folks to, it'll be posted on our embassy social media accounts. But just to say that these projects will extend beyond the next slide. Thank you so much, Gabriel. And in just 30 seconds, Elizabeth, what is your message for peace in South Sudan? Our message for peace is that peace is a personal responsibility that we all have a role to play. The community of Santigidio, which is now 80,000 people in 73 countries around the world, was started by a group of high school students who recognized this responsibility, and so we would encourage youth to do the same and to not do it alone, to do it in community with each other. Thank you so much, Isabel. Yes, James, so quite. Yes. And my message for peace, I want people to understand that youth have a unique ability to mobilize communities and create positive change. And youth can use the ability to promote intercultural and interfaith dialogues and build bridge between different social groups. By doing this, youth can help to reduce tension and prevent conflicts while targeting elections, so support the youth activities initiative, we call all the funders and donors to look into that, support the youth with the little you have, and they can bring that change among the communities. Thank you so much, James, Eric. 30 seconds. My message is that we, the people of South Sudan, should have compassion for each other. In that way, we will be able to achieve the peace we've been talking about, and we, the young people, have the energy. We bring to the table different ideas and their creativity, and so we should take up as a role and lead. It is the time for us to lead, not to be left behind and to thrive and grow to achieve our dreams in the country. That's only a way to get the work from us. Thank you. Thank you. Eric, Malek, James, a court, Elizabeth, and Gabriel Bishop, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. And Gabriel Bishop is from the Canadian delegation in Juba. Elizabeth Boyle is from the community of the Senate GDO. Eric Malek is from the South Sudan Council of Churches, and Johnson Quad is from Anna Tapan. Thank you so much for coming to Regime Raya.