Sawa Shabab (Together Youth) Radio Drama Series

The first series of Sawa Shabab was launched in 2014, and the second series was broadcast in mid-2015. Each series consisted of twenty 15-minute episodes in English and Arabic, which were aired on Radio Miraya, the Catholic Radio Network, Internews community stations, and other local stations in all states of South Sudan. In response to the ongoing violence, which erupted in December 2013, the first series was also produced in Dinka and Nuer languages and broadcast within internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and in conflict-affected areas.

The drama series follows the daily lives of four young South Sudanese: Rose, Taban, Winnie, and Richard, four very different characters facing common issues: tribalism, poverty, gender inequity, and insecurity but also issues that affect youth all over the world: school, work, friendships, family, love, and future ambitions. Over the course of the first season, listeners met Rose, a girl who left her rural village with her mother in search of greater opportunities in town. She is determined to pursue her dreams of becoming an actress, despite the hardship of urban life and her mother's traditional values (she wants to see Rose married off before she completes school). The story of Winnie shows her struggles to be to accepted back in her home country after returning from America. Taban, a student who sells eggs after school to support his family, has his own ambitions: to find his father, a profession, and love. With Richard, the son of the Police Commissioner, the listeners see the dangers (and also dark humour) of a young, unqualified, untrained man being given responsibilities he is not capable nor deserving of. Throughout the radio drama, listeners learn how all four characters become peace builders in their communities.

Sawa Shabab is based on an educational peacebuilding curriculum designed with local partners to increase knowledge and change the attitudes and behaviours of youth listeners regarding their roles in building peace in South Sudan. The series' curriculum focuses on three main goals, identified by local experts as critical to building peace in South Sudan:

• Co-Existence and National Identity: To promote peaceful co-existence and mutual respect among South Sudanese youth from different cultural and tribal orientations.
• Youth Empowerment and Personal Responsibility: To create the foundations of peacebuilding by empowering South Sudanese youth to be accountable, independent, and participatory citizens of society.
• Gender: To promote peaceful and democratic growth in society by fostering an understanding of gender equality.

Listeners are invited to share their thoughts and feedback on the characters and storylines and to respond to scripted questions at the end of each episode through text messages and phone calls, which are answered by Sawa Shabab outreach mobilisers. Interaction is also made possible though Facebook and Twitter.

Click here for episode synopses and recordings of Series 1.

Click here to listen to episodes of Series 2.

Youth, Conflct, Peacebuilding

Free Voice South Sudan is a non-governmental organisation developing media in South Sudan through capacity-building and peer-to-peer relationships with South Sudanese media. Areas of expertise include training, radio programme production, and radio drama production, with experience in all ten states of South Sudan working with radio stations of all types.

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an independent, nonpartisan institution established and funded by Congress to increase the nation's capacity to manage international conflict without violence. USIP created PeaceTech Lab as a separate entity to advance peacebuilding and stability through media, technology, and data. Now a separate non-profit organisation, the Lab continues its original mission of working for individuals and communities affected by conflict to accelerate local peacebuilding efforts.