Wednesday, November 23 at 2:00 pm
South Sudan: Five Years Later
Valentino Achak Deng, co-founder of the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation, discusses the outlook for peace and stability in South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation.
Tragically, the euphoria of liberation following South Sudan's independence in 2011 was soon undermined by deep-seated political, ethnic and geographical tensions. For the past 3 years, this power struggle has played out as a full-scale civil war in the country. Over 2 million South Sudanese are internally displaced, and over half of its 11 million population is facing famine.
This discussion reflects on important questions facing South Sudan 5 years after gaining its independence. Is there hope for peace and stability in South Sudan? What role will the international community play in bridging ethnic tensions in the country? What is the future for the UN South Sudanese peacekeeping mission that is opposed by the very government it aims to support? Can the UN impose peace on a reluctant nation? What is the role of youth and the diaspora in paving the way to sustainable peace?
Valentino Achak Deng, prominent South Sudanese advocate, will be joined by acclaimed author Dave Eggers in a conversation on these important issues.
Valentino Achak Deng is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the VAD Foundation. As a boy, Valentino fled Sudan during its civil war and spent nine years as a refugee in Ethiopia and Kenya before eventually resettling in Atlanta. Valentino has toured the United States speaking about his life in South Sudan, his experience as a refugee and his collaboration with author Dave Eggers on What Is the What, the novelized version of Deng’s life story. As a leader in the South Sudanese diaspora, Deng advocates for the universal right to education. In 2015, he was the Minister of Education for Northern Bahr el Ghazal, a position in which he oversaw more than 800 state-run schools in addition to the VAD Foundation private secondary school. Nicholas Kristof, George Clooney and John Prendergast have visited the VAD Foundation secondary school in 2015 to raise awareness about Valentino’s efforts in South Sudan. Since 2007 he has been a Clinton Global Initiative member. In 2016, Valentino became the Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Black Rhino Group in Africa.
Speaker:
Valentino Achak Deng
Co-founder, Valentino Achak Deng Foundation
Moderator:
Dave Eggers
Author
To listen to the audio of “South Sudan: Five Years Later” on World Affairs online, please click HERE.