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STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / YOUTH SPORTS
TRT: 2:48
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 30 JANUARY 2017, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Med Shot, drummer
2. Various shots, dancers
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Taban Johnson, Football Player:
“Those people who are looking, they will admire the way you are playing. They will say, see this fellow of ours is playing well, let me play like him. I want to play so it will bring these people together.”
4. Wide shot, athletes
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Buay Stevens, Football Player:
“You know it’s all about uniting ourselves to make it better. You cannot just think of the problems. We the youth, we can leave the problems to them as those people. But, as the young people coming up, we shall bring a voice to stop them from doing certain things.”
6. Wide shot, Bangladesh fashion show
7. Med Shot, guest spectators
8. Wide Shot, Bangladeshi dance
9. Wide shot, Bangladeshis displaying flags
10. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head Of UNMISS:
“Peace like any team sports requires commitment and certain key ingredients. It requires a unity of purpose to work together. It requires respect and confidence of each other in each of the teams irrespective of what your background, ethnicity or political persuasion might be and it requires team spirit. Good teams are always inclusive and encourage tolerance. So regardless of where you come from, your ethnic background, you are all part of team South Sudan.”
11. Various shots, athletes marching
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Nadia Arop Dudi, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports:
“We are searching for peace. The international community has done their part to bring peace to South Sudan. It is now our role as South Sudanese. It is your role to encourage us, to give us the tools about how we go ahead to bring peace to the country. We need peace.”
13. Various shots, audience
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Shigeru Hamano, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Japan In South Sudan:
“Japan sincerely hopes this wonderful event will continue every year to remind all of us that sports is an effective means to bring people all together to embrace peace and unity.”
15. Wide Shot, Athletes with flag
16. Med Shot, Athletes
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Mario Toby, Football Player:
“In the future, I hope to work, to be happy, and then to be in peace. We need peace in South Sudan so we move forward together.”
18. Med Shot, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, shaking hands with athletes
The many diverse cultures that make South Sudan special were celebrated in song and dance as hundreds of young sports stars gathered in the capital for the launch of National Unity Day.
The annual event brings together teenagers from across the country to compete in football, athletics, and volleyball under the theme of Sports for Peace and Social Cohesion.
It is an opportunity for the young people in this war-torn country to develop new skills and learn from each other.
Taban Johnson who is a football player said “those people who are looking, they will admire the way you are playing. They will say, see this fellow of ours is playing well, let me play like him. I want to play so it will bring these people together.”
It is also a chance to build life-long friendships and join a shared movement for peace.
Buay Stevens who is also a football player said “You know it’s all about uniting ourselves to make it better. You cannot just think of the problems. We the youth, we can leave the problems to them as those people. But, as the young people coming up, we shall bring a voice to stop them from doing certain things. As you can see, we are mixed up from different people. We are all their sons and daughters here. We are together.”
Bangladeshi engineers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan supported the event by rehabilitating four football fields for the young players. The Mission is also holding workshops with the young participants to encourage them to show leadership in the peace process.
David Shearer, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head Of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said “peace like any team sports requires commitment and certain key ingredients. It requires a unity of purpose to work together. It requires respect and confidence of each other in each of the teams irrespective of what your background, ethnicity or political persuasion might be and it requires team spirit. Good teams are always inclusive and encourage tolerance. So regardless of where you come from, your ethnic background, you are all part of team South Sudan.”
The event is organized by the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports, which advocates for youth empowerment to lead the nation forward in peace.
Nadia Arop Dudi, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports said “we are searching for peace. The international community has done their part to bring peace to South Sudan. It is now our role as South Sudanese. It is your role to encourage us, to give us the tools about how we go ahead to bring peace to the country. We need peace.”
This message is echoed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which has supported the event for the past three years.
Shigeru Hamano, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Japan In South Sudan: “Japan sincerely hopes this wonderful event will continue every year to remind all of us that sports is an effective means to bring people all together to embrace peace and unity.”
For the young sportspeople, it is a chance to put aside the challenges of growing up amidst ongoing violence and focus on the prospect of a brighter future.
Mario Toby who is also a football player said “in the future, I hope to work, to be happy, and then to be in peace. We need peace in South Sudan so we move forward together.”
