1 September 2014 - Renowned US actor Forest Whitaker arrived in the Eastern Equatoria State capital Torit today for a five-day peace workshop with youth representatives.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation was met on his arrival by State Governor Louis Lobong Lojore and UNMISS State Coordinator Hiroko Mosko.

The solution to South Sudan’s challenges lies in the hands of the country’s people, including the youth, Mr. Whitaker said during his first meeting with the 18 participants in the training-of-trainers workshop.

“As active participants, you will be able to change and make tomorrow what you choose it to be,” he said. “This is why we are here: For you to plant the seed that grows the tree that grows the fruit that creates the world that you want; for you to decide what falls from the tree to your earth.”

The Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative and UNESCO organized the workshop, with support from corporate sponsors Ericsson and Zain, which are distributing Samsung tablets with internet airtime to each of the participants.

Youth representatives said they were particularly interested to learn how new technologies can boost their creativity in conflict management and resolution.

Highlighting the role of the youth in developing South Sudan, UNESCO Country Representative Salah Khaled also stressed that education is a vital ingredient for building the nation.

“You are the lucky ones,” he told the youth representatives, drawn from all eight counties in the state. “There are 70 per cent of youth who are unlucky and did not get an opportunity for education.”

He noted that it was UNESCO’s role to make all efforts to improve education in South Sudan.

Mr. Whitaker launched the Youth Peacemaker Network in Torit on 27 June. The network is a non-violence initiative which seeks to harness the potential of youth for peace, non-violence, reconciliation and mediation in fragile contexts.

The training-of-trainers programme aims to enable selected youth participants to teach other young people skills in peacebuilding, conflict resolution and mediation, as well as entrepreneurship and computer literacy.