“The needs of the youth in South Sudan will never be met unless the guns are silenced,” says Olympian Kenyi Santino, who spoke at the UN Day Celebration in Juba, South Sudan.

Santino’s message is motivated by his own experience as a national athlete, who, despite representing the world’s youngest nation in the summer Olympics in Brazil, failed to win a medal because his training was disrupted and he was distracted by the fighting in the country.

He noted that the children of the nation will not have the opportunity to become stars in sports should the fighting continue.

“If there was no fighting in South Sudan maybe I would have won a medal for the country,” said Santino. He also noted that “South Sudan is going to be a great country tomorrow,” but cautioned that the potential greatness could be thwarted “if we continue fighting amongst ourselves.”

Santino hopes that “there will be no more war in this country, so that the younger generations can practice sports and run in peace.”