During a recent visit to Yei River State, UNMISS Civil Affairs Division (CAD) convened a one-day youth forum as a platform for dialogue  aimed at deescalating tension and hate speech between the youth in the town and those living in nearby villages.

“There is an increase in hate speech. People are called names; many have been falsely accused of supporting the opposition, while others have just become victims of that hatred”, said Joel Ayume, a youth representative of Yei County.

Major problems facing the youth include arbitrary arrests and detentions, curtailed movements to villages and cases of rape and targeted killings with ethnic undertones.

“Where there is no freedom of movement, you expect hunger because the food supply in the market will definitely go down, as peasants and farmers are denied access to their crops,” Mr. Ayume said.

“Protection of civilians means that children are able to have access to education, the population can visit health facilities and people can sleep at the comfort of their homes,” said Olivia Victoria, UNMISS CAD Officer.

The Yei River State Advisor on Peace and Security, Jackson Ambugo, said that his government has already released recently 60 members of the youth who remained behind bars since the heat of the crisis, 22 of whom were from Yei, 27 from Lainya and 11 from Kajo-Keji.

On 16 December, the state government released another 16 youth from military barracks and handed them over to the state police.

The state, Mr. Ambugo said, is working on security measures for the opening of Juba-Maridi and Juba-Kaya roads to enable local communities to have access to their villages for livelihood benefits.

Clara Hayat, another youth representative, however, said that genuine peace has to begin from home, because most of the disturbing disputes have their foundations at the household level.

“We have to be able to bring peace and reconciliation to ourselves before we can bring peace to our families and country, because peace must start from within us,” Ms. Hayat said.

UNMISS will continue to assist conflict management efforts in Yei by supporting programmes that are aimed at peace-building and social cohesion, Ms. Olivia said.

The forum drew together 42 participants, including youth from Morobo, Yei, Lainya and Kajo-keji, the State Minister of Infrastructure and the State Advisor for Peace and Security.