12 June 2015 - As society’s most energetic age group as well as its future, youth must learn to identify and cope with conflict, a senior county official said in Terekeka, Central Equatoria State.

“The conflict which occurs between one clan and another takes place among you, the youths,” said Terekeka County Acting Executive Director Bensio Morbe, speaking at the opening of a two-day workshop for youth on conflict mitigation, which ended today.

He told participants at the UNMISS-organized activity that youth should embrace the spirit of forgiveness and embark on genuine reconciliation to pave the way for development in the county.

Mundari United Youth Association (MUYA) Chairperson Bush Buse said joblessness, poverty and high bride wealth encouraged many youth to engage in behavior like cattle rustling to make ends meet.

“The youth should shift from looking at cattle as the only viable economic and social source of livelihood,” he said. “They should also focus on other economic activities, such as fishing and agriculture.”

During the workshop, participants identified other causes of conflict, including an impotent justice system, disputes between pastoralists and farmers, competition over grazing land and water points and the culture of revenge.

Moses Putia, MUYA deputy chairman, said those who committed felonies must be heavily punished as a deterrent for perpetrators.

Conflict over water points could be easily avoided if county authorities provided more wells, as pastoralists would then have no reason to move around in search of water, he said.

Organizers directed the 30 youth, drawn from the 10 payams (districts) and 47 bomas (areas) of Terekeka County, to form a seven-member committee charged with developing early warning and response mechanisms to help detect threats as they arose.

Workshop resolutions included moving cattle away from farmlands to avoid conflict between herders and farmers, conducting awareness raising campaigns in all Terekeka payams, and training local leaders in resource management.

Whilst disarmament of youth could be an option to reduce numbers of guns in civilian hands, Mr. Putia said the current war made this unfeasible.

UNMISS Civil Affairs Officer Elizabeth Hammond noted that disarmament generally followed peace, not vice versa. “We hope that peace is signed soon to allow for a comprehensive disarmament across the country, so that no community is disarmed while another is being rearmed.”

Yohannes Alemu, another Civil Affairs Officer, said the administration of justice was key to realizing peace and tranquility in every society. But he added that differences between customary and civil judges often bedeviled proper settlement of cases and bred confusion in the justice system.

He recommended training of customary court judges on their roles and limits for efficient and effective settlement of cases.

MUYA Chairperson Buse said some customary leaders were tempted to pass wrong sentences, especially on land-related matters, as the assertion “the land belongs to the community” in the country’s transitional constitution was vague and needed revisiting.

He recommended a training of traditional leaders on the Local Government Act (LGA) to make them aware of their areas of responsibility and limits.

Mary Malara, a women’s representative at the workshop, urged that a Peace Committee be formed to advocate for real peace in cattle camps, if the county were to save lives of youth.

“We produce children in order for them to give us decent burials,” Ms. Malara said. “What value is it if they end up dying in cattle camps?”