Use sports to rebuild social fabric in communities
The recent SPLM inter-Payam football tournament, organised in Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria State, has proven beyond doubt that sport is one of the tools that can promote peaceful coexistence among the communities.
Hundreds of people, especially those who come from Magwi County, travelled from Juba to Magwi to attend the match last Sunday, and over 15,000 people gathered at Magwi Freedom Square to watch the outstanding games.
The Omeo Payam Boys and Owiny-Ki-Bul Payam Girls were crowned winners of the Inter-Payam Football Tournament.
This was an annual Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Inter-Payam Football Tournament initiative that has been played three years in a row now.
This is a very significant event that always brings all the payams in Magwi County together to participate in the activity to promote peace and unity.
The five-year war tore several communities apart and destroyed the social fabric that used to exist among communities. So, there is a need to restore the social fabric which could only be possible through the sports such as football. It is the sports that unite people irrespective of their political affiliation, gender and age.
Imagine, this particular football competition was held under the theme “SPLM for All” despite the varied political inclinations that the people exhibit in the country exhibit. But all the youth across Magwi County were able to come together to interact with one another. It clearly shows that sports bring all people from different walks of life together. Sports can be used to build trust, and trust-building can lead to peace-building in society.
The leaders need to embark on sports as a means to promote peace and unity among the citizens, especially in the rural communities that have been greatly affected by the recent war. We have experience of many countries that used sports as a tool to promote unity among their citizens after a civil war. We have all read the story about how sports were used in Japan to promote peace and unity among the Japanese after the devastating second world war (WW II).
Also, we have heard in war-torn countries that sports have been used to bring people together and help build lasting peace. In 2002, a football match held in Afghanistan’s national stadium was used by the Taliban regime as a positive symbol of change.
Apart from political and economic reforms, there is a need to also work on the social recovery of society. Families and communities must be brought together, and this can only be done through sports activities. We cannot talk about building trust among the political leaders and forget to unite our local people at the grassroots who are returning home from the refugee and IDP camps.
When displaced person returns home, they are envious of those who stayed in the country and did not flee in the first place. They believe that those who remained back home are those who looted or destroyed their property. Thus, it’s important to reunite them to restart building their lives.
