Sudan has endured conflict and insecurity since independence was proclaimed on the January 1st, 1956. The conflict is deeply entrenched, pitting Arab Muslims in the North against Christians and black African animists in the South. Long-simmering differences in language, religion, ethnicity, and political power erupted in a civil war between government forces and rebels, with a large role played by the National Islamic Front (NIF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Southern Sudan has sought autonomy following years of oppression and marginalization, and the discovery of oil in the region has only exacerbated tensions. Human rights violations, religious persecution, and allegations that Sudan had been a safe haven for terrorists isolated the country from most of the international community.

In 1995, the UN imposed sanctions against the country. A ceasefire was called in July 2002, and a peace agreement was signed in January 2005. Unfortunately, the possibility for peace was fleeting, as Darfur became a key battle ground in the ongoing crisis in the country. The civil war and the country's pariah status have combined to create one of the worst humanitarian crises in history. Working in collaboration with War Child Holland and with a network of local youth run NGOs, War Child Canada is helping to implement a project that encourages youth organizations to undertake development, protection and rights based activities and to engage in decision making within their communities.

The project aims to reach 400 youth group members directly and thousands of community members indirectly in the communities of Yei and Juba. We feel that this project is an extremely important component of our overall strategy of contributing to the peacebuilding process in South Sudan. To date we have seen positive results from our joint efforts with War Child Holland and our network of local partners.

We have successfully trained 8 youth groups from both Yei and Juba have been trained in the following: Organizational Management, Livelihoods, Peacebuilding, Gender, HIV/AIDS, Mine Risk Education, and in the psychosocial development of children and youth. As a result of the training the youth organizations have started to implement successful community outreach events dealing with the above issues. We have further sensitized the Juba and Yei communities on the benefits of the youth-driven development programming and enlisted support from all community grass-roots members.

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