South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
The Deputy Vice Chancellor of Upper Nile University, Ambrose Samuel, on Friday urged young people across the country to engage in civic activities and embrace inclusive governance.
“Youth make up 70 per cent of the country’s population, which means the country belongs to young people. It would be disastrous if they do not understand how this country is governed,” Samuel said during a symposium at Upper Nile University.
Samuel revealed that civic education and creating awareness among the youth will provide insights into national inclusive governance issues and guide their participation in the country’s development.
He also stated that young people need to be educated on governance issues to enable them to advocate for their involvement as relevant stakeholders in governance matters.
“Civic education needs to be given to students, beginning from primary school, in order to enable young people in South Sudan to learn how to participate in governance issues from a tender age,” he said.
Satiro Obore Otti, Dean of Students Affairs at Upper Nile University, said limited access to education is preventing many young South Sudanese from participating meaningfully in governance.
Otti noted that the majority of young people in South Sudan lack access to basic education, which limits their ability to engage meaningfully in decision-making at the national level.
“The youth of South Sudan are in the millions, but the majority are illiterate. As South Sudan is growing in terms of civilisation, young people need to look into their rights so that they can also be involved in governance,” said Otti.
The symposium, which brought together students from Upper Nile University and was supported by the UNMISS Political Affairs Division, served as an outreach engagement centred on constitution-making, elections, and governance.
