From Observers to Negotiators: South Sudan’s Youth Take Their Place at the Peace Table
October 2025
A network of 312 peace champions — 47% young women — now lead mediations and civic education across South Sudan, helping resolve 20 local disputes and shape peace policy and state budgets nationwide.
County Peace Committees in South Sudan bring together chiefs, faith leaders, civil society, local authorities, and youth representatives. With women playing an increasingly active role, these committees monitor risks, raise peace awareness, and promote voluntary disarmament. Two years ago, however, most young people were there in name only, with women rarely speaking and young men often staying quiet in the presence of elders, leaving key decisions about the country’s future largely without their input.
Today, that silence is giving way to confident voices and concrete results.?
Over more than two years, joint UN efforts led by UNFPA and UNESCO, with support from the UN Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund, helped shift youth from passive observers to active negotiators, ensuring their voices were embedded in decision-making at every level across the country. Launched in December 2022 and with a combined budget of over US$500,000, these efforts included the nationwide dissemination of the Youth, Peace and Security Strategy, the training of more than 300 young peace champions in mediation and leadership, and the production of youth-led radio programmes that reached an estimated 175,000 listeners across the country, amongst others.
A seat — and a say — at the table
In May 2025, the Minister of Peacebuilding launched the National Youth, Peace and Security Strategy, supported by a three-year plan with a budget of US$700,000. The strategy gives legal recognition to State-level Youth Peace Fora as advisory bodies to governors and creates space for young people to directly shape policy.
Within weeks, three states - Western Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile, and Western Equatoria - had realigned their peacebuilding budgets, earmarking a combined US$ 85,000 for youth-led conflict prevention.
A perception survey conducted in April 2025 showed that 74% of youth (70% women) felt “included or very included” in peacebuilding, up from 48% in 2023, reflecting not just attendance in meetings, but real influence over decisions and outcomes.
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From training rooms to real-life disputes?
A network of 312 peace champions, nearly half of them young women, now lead mediations and civic education in targeted states. Trained under the , they learned how to analyse conflict drivers, map stakeholders, and use dialogue to prevent escalation.?
Since January 2025, these young mediators have resolved close to 20 documented disputes in states such as Western Equatoria, Western Bhar El Ghazal, and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, Cases ranged from land and boundary disputes to market-day clashes.??
In Yambio, one mediation between traders and local authorities reduced reported assaults on market days by 60% in just one quarter.?
Changing minds, changing norms?
The project has also helped shift deep-seated gender norms. Women-only preparatory sessions gave young women the confidence to participate actively in mixed-gender forums. In Jur River and Yambio, young women were elected as co-chairs of Youth Peace Fora, creating space for them to shape decisions and lead peace efforts.??
Media has been a key ally. Thirty-eight youth journalists, including 18 women, were trained in conflict-sensitive reporting. Through radio and podcasts, they reached an estimated 175,000 listeners, helping to change public attitudes.??
County peace committees, typically made up of 15-30 members, now reserve designated youth seats, ensuring young women and men are represented alongside chiefs, faith leaders, civil society and local authorities.?
From policy to practice?
At the grassroots level, six community youth centres supported by the project are bringing policy to life through weekly “YPS cafés.” These sessions combine arts with civic education, giving youth a regular platform to engage, learn, and contribute to peacebuilding.?
This new generation of young peacebuilders made their presence felt in August 2025, when more than 50 young men and women from Jonglei, Greater Pibor Administrative Area, Upper Nile, and Unity gathered in Juba for the Youth Peace Ambassadors Bootcamp.??
“Salam, ya salam – we’re the youth of South Sudan!” echoed through the room, capturing the energy of a generation determined to make peace both offline and online.?
With hate speech and disinformation increasingly fueling tensions, the bootcamp could not have come at a better time. Funded by the PBF and implemented by IOM and Digital Rights Frontlines, a local NGO, the Ambassadors learned to identify and challenge harmful narratives, counter hate speech, and promote responsible digital citizenship. They acquired practical skills to spot bias, verify online content, and design social media campaigns that amplify messages of unity.??
Lasting change?
The PBF contributes to creating structures to ensure that youth participation is not only recognized but sustained.?
By the end of June, three pilot states, Western Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile, and Western Equatoria, had realigned their peacebuilding budgets with the new YPS Strategy, setting aside a combined $840,000 for youth-led conflict-prevention. This represents a significant step toward making youth participation not only recognized but also budgeted, measurable, and sustainable.??
The Ministry of Peacebuilding has instructed all state ministries to appoint youth focal points for strategy roll-out. A joint monitoring mechanism, co-chaired by a young woman peace champion and a Director in the Ministry of Peacebuilding Director, is already tracking progress.?
Across South Sudan, young people are proving that when given space and support, they are not only participants, but leaders in shaping the future of peace.?