By Ngor Deng Matem
Northern Bahr El Ghazal State launches football tournament for peace and social cohesion, in Aweil North County.
A national NGO, Action for Children Development Foundation (ACDF) in partnership with World Vision, organizes the peace tournament with funding from German Cooperation.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ACDF South Sudan, Mrs. Regina Ajok explained the importance of sport.
“This initiative aims at promoting and strengthening peace and cohesion among the South Sudanese youth. As an organization, we support the games by providing assistance in the form of sports jerseys like balls, uniforms, and logistics to facilitate the competition,” she said.
“We also provide in-kind support to the winners in order to boost the morale of the players and fans,” Mrs. Ajok added.
According to her, this project of strengthening peace and social cohesion through sport is being implemented in two counties, Aweil North and Aweil East, respectively.
“We encourage the local football Associations to engage youth in sports’ activities even when there are no organizations supporting them,” Ajok urged.
She also appealed to the players to showcase their talents while on the field and again called on the fans to maintain peace among themselves.
The two teams of Gok United and Korok East United FCs battled it out in the first opening game of the tournament.
In this competition, there are eight teams from Ariath and Mayen Ulem Payams participating in the tournament.
Aweil North County Commissioner Kiir Chan appreciated the ACDF and World Vision for helping the country foster peace.