Bush Buse, CES Youth and Sports Minister|Courtesy

The Central Equatoria State Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports says the state government is planning vocational training, agriculture projects, and the rehabilitation of recreational spaces to empower young people.

Bush Buse made the remarks during Eye Radio’s Child Rights Programme, organized by the Children’s Parliament of South Sudan, a child-led organization supported by Save the Children.

Buse said the ministry is working to establish vocational schools for young people who missed out on formal education so they can gain practical skills and create employment opportunities.

“Youth empowerment, we are looking at vocational schools for young people who did not find opportunities to go to formal schools or formal education. They should have an opportunity to invest in agriculture because that is the sector that will absorb the largest population that we have,” he said.

He said the government also plans to encourage young people to invest in agriculture, describing the sector as having the greatest potential to create jobs because of South Sudan’s vast and fertile land.

“As I said, we have a vast area of land which is fertile for agriculture. South Sudan is bigger than those three countries I mentioned. Central Equatoria is equivalent to one country in East Africa. Rwanda, for example, is very small, but yet the economy to some level is stable, right?

“So this is one number two is to secure, reclaim and upgrade playgrounds and recreational spaces. And we have started working on that. Very soon, in less than three months, there are some playgrounds that we will reclaim so that school children will be able to participate,” he said.

The minister said the youth empowerment initiative is expected to benefit about 2,000 young people.

He added that the ministry is also reclaiming and upgrading playgrounds and recreational spaces to provide safe places for children to play sports and other recreational activities.