Youth leaders in the South Sudanese town of Bor are urging each other to act as role models in preventing conflict between warring communities in the Jonglei region by becoming “messengers of peace”.

At a dialogue forum hosted by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, members of the Bor Youth Association discussed ways to prevent conflict and maintain peace in the area which is experiencing ongoing conflict between communities such as the Murle and Mundari.

The forum coincided with commemorations of the International Day of Peace with the Head of the UNMISS Field Office delivering the message of the UN Secretary General to the young participants.

Deborah Schein urged the Bor youth to reconcile with each other and work towards lasting peace as the future generation of South Sudan.

“I think you are the key to your future and I think it is the youth who will bring about peace and reconciliation so this initiative is extremely relevant and worthwhile”, she said.

The Chair of the Bor Youth Association, Abraham Deng Mayen, appealed to his young counterparts to be peace messengers.

“We have to discuss conflicts among ourselves and how to manage it so that we live in peace and we can be role models,” he said.  “So let us have peace among ourselves as the Bor Community Youth Association and be messengers of peace.”  

The local Mayor, Akim Ajieth, commended UNMISS for organizing the dialogue and urged the Mission to involve warring communities in similar forums.

“It is a good dialogue and I think it will achieve the purpose,” he said. “Conflict management is very important  especially in this era where we are living in South Sudan. Once the youth are stable and peaceful then we can move on to development.”

He also said that it was important that young people were either enrolled in study or working so that they did not become involved in conflict.

The forum for peace and reconciliation is one of UNMISS’ key initiatives designed to bring about peace among young people and communities in Jonglei as part of its mandate to protect civilians and build durable peace in South Sudan.