Youth and climate change in South Sudan

Managing waste properly is essential for building sustainable and livable cities, but it remains a challenge for many developing countries and cities. And Just like any other city, Juba - the capital of South Sudan and its surrounding suburbs faces the challenge of poor waste management, and very little is done to care for the environment as well.

March 30 2023 is the international day for zero waste proclaimed by the UN General Assembly last December, to formally recognize the importance of zero-waste initiatives around the world.

So in this episode of our podcast, we reflect on some local youth initiatives in South Sudan, created specifically to work towards waste management and discuss what more can be done to ensure proper disposal and management of our waste in our homes, communities, and the country at large.

This conversation features Alice Sabuni - a young woman very passionate about environmental care and recycling waste products. She founded Eco Clean -a Juba-based initiative to manage waste in some parts of the city. In this episode, you shall also listen to a youth leader who has mobilized his peers to ensure their neighborhood is waste-free.

Suicide is a major public health problem with far-reaching social, emotional, and economic consequences. It is estimated that there are currently more than 700,000 suicide cases registered per year worldwide.

In South Sudan, a WHO report indicated that more than 400 suicide cases were recorded in 2020 alone, and the majority of victims were found to be young people between 15-29 years.

So, in this episode, we explore the mental health status of the country, triggers of suicide, warning signs of mental health challenges and suicidal thoughts, how to prevent it, especially among young people, where to seek for professional help and our individual responsibilities in suicide prevention.

Guest:  Mr. Boniface Duku – Mental Health and psycho-social Support specialist –  HealthNet TPO South Sudan.
Host: Rosemary Wilfred - Media & Communications Manager - Tearfund South Sudan

In this Episode, Viola Modong and Yokwe Wilson - share their perspectives on the major contributing factors of youth Unemployment in South Sudan and some alternative ways young people in the country can adapt to become job creators instead of job seekers. The two creative youngsters also share their personal stories and experiences of job search, the challenges they faced, and how they overcame them to get where they are right now.

Host: Rosemary Wilfred - Media & Communications Manager

How do you express yourself, e.g. what you feel or an idea you want to get across? Do you always speak your mind, do you just write it down or do you simply draw or sing? 

Well, there are very many ways to express one’s feelings, and writing these feelings or ideas down is just one of them. Writing can be a source of endless inspiration and enlightenment and a kind of art that empowers, nurtures, and transforms.  It can also help open up conversations that are otherwise difficult to start and in recent years, youth poetry has particularly blown up and is quickly becoming popular among young people in South Sudan who use their creativity for good.

So this episode features two young South Sudanese who are passionate about writing POEMS to get their messages across to other people.

Priscilla Ayuen – a student at the University of Juba and Grace Mundua – a student at the Catholic University of South Sudan are both celebrated young writers in South Sudan. In this conversation, the young ladies talked about their most popular poems and their motivation.

In recent years, the world has witnessed rapid and widespread adoption of digital technology that has fundamentally transformed various aspects of society, including communication, trade, education, entertainment, and more. 

So in this episode, we look at the current global digital revolution and discuss how young people in South Sudan can meaningfully leverage such opportunities and engage in capital-enhancing activities, enrich their knowledge, learn new skills, and create pathways to employment.

This edition features the story of Rachel Hakim - a young South Sudanese digital entrepreneur who has started small, but dreams of creating a digital empire using technology and other digital innovations.

 How can South Sudanese Youth contribute to stopping or at least minimising the effects of climate change in the country? 

Episode 3 features an interview with Thor Yuanes, a Climate Change Adaptation and Smart Action Advocacy Group leader from Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan. To support his community, Yuanes engaged the youth in his village to raise awareness about climate change and its potential effects. He also created a rapid response team to help with evacuation during emergencies. Yuanes calls on young people across the country to step up and tackle climate change in South Sudan. 

Poets Juan Evalyn Mule and Priscilla Ayuen provide a glimpse into the life of some young people in South Sudan in this 4-minutes thought-provoking poem. Listen as they take you on this virtual tour.

Juan and Priscilla also call for support for South Sudanese Youth that can uplift them to reach their full potential.

Episode 2 of Step Up discusses Youth and Peacebuilding in South Sudan and features Benson Binya - A young Peacebuilding Champion working with various youth groups in the city to foster peaceful co-existence within his community. 

He also shares various ways in which young people can become peace ambassadors in their respective communities and contribute towards the peace-building process in the country (South Sudan)

Host: Rosemary Wilfred - Media and Communication Manager - Tearfund South Sudan

 Challenges facing young people

Grace Aguil Garang takes us through some of the challenges that youth in South Sudan face, such as unemployment, economic vulnerability, illiteracy, disunity among the youth, negative cultural norms leading to early marriage and more.

Building strong young leaders for today

Grace strongly objects to the idea that young people are the leaders of ‘tomorrow.’ She suggests that a youth enterprise fund needs to be put in place to ensure that the youth agenda is included in current political decision making and nation building. 

‘We have to change the whole idea of the youth being the leaders of tomorrow. I feel the youth are the leaders of today and tomorrow, mainly because if we are going to achieve tomorrow, we have to be there today. How can we keep saying that you are going to take up the seats tomorrow? How would we know how to work tomorrow? How do you build the present for tomorrow?’

About the Step Up podcast

The Step Up podcast is produced by Tearfund South Sudan for young men and women, and hopes to  inspire talented young minds to use creative methods to transform their lives. The podcast will also discuss the options available for young people as they navigate daily challenges and life choices.

Season 1 of this podcast will focus on the young people in South Sudan and feature inspiring conversations and reflections on:

• youth empowerment and transformation
• climate change and environmental care 
• peacebuilding and social cohesion
• mental health
• transformative gender norms
• social innovations
• technology 

Step Up Podcast Series Trailer