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“Our lives have turned from bad to better.”
Alimu Robert Godfrey is one of 107 young people, including 35 women, benefiting from an initiative to improve opportunities to find jobs and build businesses as well as prevent their involvement in conflict across South Sudan.
He learned new skills in plumbing during a vocational training in Torit, under the Community Violence Reduction Project (CVRP) supported by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
“This will help me become self-reliant and change the course of my life,” he says.
“Engaging these youth who are actively involved in violence is part of our protection of civilians and conflict prevention efforts,” says UNMISS Civil Affairs Officer, Basabas Efuk. “It gives them the tools to be productive members of society and to go back to their communities as ambassadors of peace.”
The lack of professional opportunities in Eastern Equatoria and across the country often forces young people into unstable jobs, such as driving boda-bodas or part-time construction. Worse than that, they can become involved in crime and conflict just to survive.
“By participating in this project, we now have options for finding stable employment or becoming entrepreneurs,” emphasizes participant Francis Lopukei.
From plumbing to auto-mechanics, catering or hairdressing, participants can choose their own future, based on their individual strengths and interests.
Another beneficiary, Hellen Amoo Moris, is now a professional hairdresser.
“These trainings give us hope that we can harness the power of knowledge to build a better life.”
The project also helps bring diverse youth together for social activities to build trust, confidence and strong networks for peace, such as the football match organized by UNMISS and its long-standing partner, the Torit Health Science Institute, which attracted hundreds of spectators.
“The positive way in which the players interacted showed that if we continue promoting such activities, our country will grow and become peaceful. It showed that we are united and can come together for a good cause,” says Francis Lopukei, one of the team captains.
The vocational training project will run until the end of September, marking one year since its commencement, but its impact will reach far beyond this date.
“After getting this chance to create opportunities for ourselves, it is now time for us to give back and become job creators. The future is bright!” exclaims Moris.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).