A national roundtable on the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda opened in Juba on Friday with a resounding call for young people to take the lead in building peace and shaping South Sudan’s future.
The forum, organized in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2250, brought together government officials, the United Nations, civil society organizations, and youth groups.
It aimed at strengthening youth participation in peacebuilding, governance, and development.
Speaking at the opening, Diang Bichok Goah, Director General for Public Relations and Coordination at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, said South Sudan’s most valuable resource is its young people.
“More than 70 percent of South Sudan’s people are under the age of 30. That is not just a statistic—it is a defining truth. The future of this country is already in the hands of young people,” Goah emphasized.
The roundtable also concluded a series of activities marking this year’s International Youth Day, including football matches, press conferences, radio talk shows, and cleanup campaigns in Juba and across the states.
Youth Voices at the Center
Youth leaders used the platform to demand empowerment, skills training, and protection to play a meaningful role in peace and nation-building.
Thess Marial Rong, Secretary of Information and Public Relations for the South Sudan National Youth Union, described the roundtable as “the crown” of youth-led peace efforts.
“Peace is not the absence of war. It is the presence of justice, of opportunity, of dignity for all. Let us build that peace from the ground up,” he told the gathering, calling on young people to act as agents of change.
Florence Agiba, Executive Director of Markaz Al Salam, and Cicilia Tuta William, National Youth Chairperson, praised the contributions of youth volunteers, particularly through the South Sudan Red Cross, which has more than 18,000 volunteers active in humanitarian and peace initiatives.
From Talk to Action
The Ministry of Youth and Sports formally declared the roundtable open, stressing that it must lead to concrete action.
“This should not remain just a discussion,” organizers said in a joint statement. “It must be the beginning of real and transformative action—driven by young people and for young people in South Sudan.”
The forum ended with a shared commitment from government, partners, and youth representatives to ensure that South Sudanese youth are not only seen as beneficiaries of peace, but as leaders of it.
