By James Chatim

The Undersecretary in the National Ministry of Peacebuilding, Pia Philip Michael, has urged the South Sudanese public to be a t the forefront in championing for peace. Echoing sentiments from regional bodies, the Undersecretary recommended that for peace to prevail in the country, sons and daughters of the land must say no to war.

Speaking on Wednesday during at the beginning of a three-day workshop organized by the Ministry of Peace Building to mitigate hate speech and misinformation ahead of upcoming general elections, Hon. Philip said their past benchmarking tours across Africa, including in past conflict-hit countries like Liberia, have only delivered one message back home: That peace can only come to a country when the sons and daughters of that particular country say no to war.

This, he said, can only be achieved when all and sundry agree to take up peace and reject any efforts that can slip them to conflict.

“So for the next three days, all of us who are here, civil society organizations, organized forces, young women groups and youths, we will be looking at how we can work together to mitigate hate speech so that we can have a peaceful election, and a stable country,” Philip told participants.

“We have heard from the region when, in 2023 in Liberia, the country’s parliament told us that peace can only come to a country when the sons and daughters of that particular country say no to war,” he said, urging for the collective responsibility among the public.

“So we cannot be saying no to war in public and implying war and fighting in darkness. In this, we will not have peace. Peace comes when all of us agree that we want peace and we push ll our efforts to realising it. We have to capitalize on anything that brings peace and social cohesion,” he stated.

“As we know, peace building is a collective responsibility that cannot be done by one institution. The mission of peace building starts in the front, but we cannot achieve peace alone. It is when every South Sudanese would say no to conflict, no to violence, that’s when we can have peace,” he highlighted.

The Undersecretary further stated that hate speech have driven countries to ashes, magnifying the negative impact of such offensive discourse.

With multiple tech savvy youth cropping up in a rapid technologically developing era, the official warned improper use of the internet can erupt conflict and cause division among communities, and urged youths to be ambassadors of peace.