South Sudan bets on sports to promote social cohesion

JUBA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Clad in colorful traditional attire made of animal skin, local wrestlers raised a thick cloud of dust as they tussled to knock each other down.

After nearly three minutes of a fierce struggle, a well-built tribal wrestler from South Sudan's eastern region of Jonglei brought his opponent down, attracting wild noise from hundreds of supporters who danced to celebrate the win over fellow herders from the central region of Mapordit, Western Lakes State.

South Sudan, the world's youngest republic has diverse cultures, religions and ethnic groups, but decades of conflicts over resources ruined the country's diversity, pitting communities along ethnic, tribal and political lines.

Now the government is trying to use sports to restore social cohesion and unity as the country enters a period of transition to a unity government.

The fifth National Unity Day, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport which concluded last week brought together over 400 youth from diverse cultures, regions and religions with the sole aim of promoting peace and tolerance.

"It was a good experience of staying together with different people from different states. It gave us the chance to know individuals and their characters," said 20-year-old Jaslene Silvano from Jonglei state.

Silvano said she was able to meet new people and also make friends from various tribes and regions. "It was not easy staying with people you do not know in the past," she said.

"We were put together with youth from different states and sometimes conflict emerge, but we settled our differences without a fight and I managed to get a lot of friends from all over the country," Silvano added.

"I met different people from different tribes, cultures and backgrounds," said Dor Peter Mel, a volleyball player from the central region of Rumbek, which recently suffered a wave of intercommunal violence and revenge killings.

"We have been sleeping, eating and playing together and this is a sign of peace. We want to keep this friendship going," Mel said.

He pledged to use sports to try to persuade the youth in his village to shun cattle raiding and revenge killings.

"There is a lot of hatred and tribalism in South Sudan now and it is not going to end if we do not start tackling it now," said Silvano.

"The youth will be the ones to stop all that is happening now. Our leaders also have the responsibility to act and end the current situation," she added.

Deng Deng Hoc Yai, South Sudan's general education minister urged over 400 youth who participated in the sporting jamboree to become agents of positive change in their respective communities.

He pledged the government's desire to implement the revitalized peace agreement in order to end the conflict in the country. Enditem