Some of youths during the official launch of youth camp program initiated by the Luol Deng Foundation - Credit | Lou Nelson/Eye Radio | April 25, 2022

The Minister of Youth and Sports has called on the youth partaking in the ongoing South Sudan youth camping activities to shun tribalism and work to unite the country.

The initiative of Luol Deng Foundation aimed at harnessing the power of sports to strengthen social cohesion, develop soft-life skills and increase resilience among the youth.

The program is targeting young people between the ages of 13 and 29.

The youth drawn from all parts of the country will learn basketball and additional subjects including STEM, Mental Health Awareness, Mentorship, Computer basics and Literacy among others.

In his remarks during the official launch of the program on Monday, Minister Albino Bol Dhieu told the youth they have the potential to make South Sudan great.

They can only do that when they are united.

“You have the potential, you have that heart that can win games. So let us think about the good things that can unite us and can bring us together. We will never be called a nation till we refuse what our tribesmen tell us,” Dr. Albino said.

“We are great people, you have strong people, you have good land, you have a resourceful nation. You must love yourselves and know that all the sixty four tribes of South Sudan are a blessing, and are a pride to the Republic of South Sudan.”

For her part, Saree Mading, Chief of Staff of Luol Deng Foundation explained the objective of the youth camping activity.

“I want them to have fun, the focus is to bring in some social cohesion between the youth here like to help them understand like we are so different but you know what, we are all the same and we love South Sudan just as much as our elders and we have a future for ourselves,” Saree said.

In basketball, last month, South Sudan men’s team made history in the FIBA Basketball World Cup African qualifier after topping Group B in the initial stage of the first round qualification.

The Bright Stars rose to the Summit of African Basketball with a perfect winning record in their opening three games, the pinnacle of which was beating continental defending champions Tunisia, and becoming the first African team to beat the Les Aigles de Carthage since 2018.

They also won against Rwanda and Cameroon.

Having already proved potential by finishing among the top five in the Afro-Basket last year, Luol Deng and his boys proved too strong for Rwanda in their opening fixture winning by a 12 point margin in a 68-56 victory.