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STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / DISPLACED YOUTH
TRT: 4:00
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 JANUARY 2020, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Various shots, UN Envoy on Youth having a section of her hair braided
2. Various shots, displaced meeting with UN Envoy on Youth
3. SOUNDBITE (English) MAKURAR JOCH, Youth Representative at Protection Of Civilians Site:
“All youth are not normally as you are seeing them right now. Particularly, like I can say it, I have been traumatized, you are not seeing it, but emotionally. At least, please promote access to education, that is the main thing I can focus on, please don’t forget that.”
4. Med shot, lady pointing out on banner what vocational courses are offered
5. Various shots, youth learning computer skills – Envoy on Youth looks on
6. Wide shot, male and female learning tailoring course
7. Various shots, ladies training on hairdressing
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Envoy on Youth:
“I hope and wish that the elders will also continue to support young people, particularly young women’s participation in programmes like this, and I hope that peace prevails in South Sudan and that all of you, young people, will be seen as actors of peace and prosperity and not as actors of war.”
9. Various shots, ladies in training
10. Wide shot, Youth envoy looking on
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Alice Kidden, Displaced Mother:
“The challenges women are facing more than men is because most of the women here are widows. They are the ones taking care of their children, they do not have any support coming from outside.”
12. Various shots, meeting on Adolescents
13. Various shots, meeting with legislators
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Envoy on Youth:
“For me when I talk about youth and my mandate, I cannot do it without talking about the youngest country in the world. So, it is so important for us that we come here and stand in solidarity with you and we support you in your efforts to realize the full potential of the largest generation of young people that your country has seen.”
15. Wide shot, legislators
UN Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake visited displaced South Sudanese youth who are living in a UN protection of civilian site near the country’s capital city of Juba.
Thousands of South Sudanese teenagers and children live in this protection site after fleeing violence during the civil war. Many were born here and have never experienced life outside.
One of South Sudan’s displaced young people is showing off her skills, gained during her six years living in a United Nations Protection of Civilians site in South Sudan’s capital, Juba.
Her client is none other than the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake, who is in the country on a week-long visit.
Thousands of South Sudanese teenagers and children have lived here since civil war erupted in December 2013.
They are, at least, able to access food, water, shelter and educational services inside the site compared to many young people living in other parts of the country. This includes access to vocational training provided by UNICEF in partnership with Women Advancement Organization.
Makurar Joch, a youth representative at the protection site said, “all youth are not normally as you are seeing them right now. Particularly, like I can say it, I have been traumatized, you are not seeing it, but emotionally. At least, please promote access to education, that is the main thing I can focus on, please don’t forget that.”
The center trains young mothers and out-of-school youth in computer skills, tailoring, catering, hairdressing, carpentry, numeracy and literacy as well as combating gender-based violence and training in conflict prevention. There are currently 315 young people enrolled in the various courses.
UN Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake said, “I hope and wish that the elders will also continue to support young people, particularly young women’s participation in programmes like this, and I hope that peace prevails in South Sudan and that all of you, young people, will be seen as actors of peace and prosperity and not as actors of war.”
Wickramanayake spent several hours in the protection site meeting the trainees and hearing first-hand the challenges they face, including 22-year old Alice Kidden who is raising two children on her own.
Kidden said, “the challenges women are facing more than men is because most of the women here are widows. They are the ones taking care of their children, they do not have any support coming from outside.”
The Envoy was briefed on the country-wide situation at the launch of the South Sudan State of Adolescent and Youth Report 2019, which found that 72 per cent of the population is aged under 30 and the majority of youth are either unemployed or unemployable because of a lack of skills.
More than 2.2 million children are missing out on education. At least 12 per cent of girls dropped out of primary school because of pregnancy or marriage as well as 20 percent of secondary-school girls.
The Youth Envoy also met with South Sudanese parliamentarians to call for policies dedicated to supporting the advancement of youth.
She said, “for me when I talk about youth and my mandate, I cannot do it without talking about the youngest country in the world. So, it is so important for us that we come here and stand in solidarity with you and we support you in your efforts to realize the full potential of the largest generation of young people that your country has seen.”
To realize that potential, she urged political leaders to invest more in their young people as the future leaders of a peaceful and more prosperous South Sudan.
