12 August 2011 - Only 16 years old, Yousra Suleiman Al-Toum Ahmed is teenager compromised by her country, Sudan, and with the potential of her generation. She wants to become a journalist, to explain the problems that children, youth and students are facing in Darfur.

 

“I would like to reflect the good talents that young Darfuris have. They are ambitious, willing to help themselves and their families, but the problem is that they lack awareness,” she notes.

Around the world young people are planning and hoping for a better future, while they contribute to transforming their reality.

“Change Our World” is the theme for this year's International Youth Day, the culmination of the International Year of Youth and the 25th Anniversary of the first International Year of Youth. The theme  not only expresses the level of impact that young people strive to achieve, but also reflects the notion of a global community that is a core principle of the United Nations.

In Darfur, where the conflict has undermined the optimism of many, young voices still believe and dream in a future with more opportunities for everybody.

From Yousra’s point of view, young people should have more options, such as capacity building programs, and in their spare time they should practice hobbies and upgrade their skills. “The young people should look to the future, not only to the present.”

Her engagement with her community begins at her school, Al Manar, in El Fasher, North Darfur. She is a member of the Students Union and the head of the Koranic association. During the school breaks, between lessons, both organizations conduct activities for the students, such as meetings and debates with external lecturers. They take care of improvements that the school may need, such as painting walls, and if there are clashes among students, they try to solve them.

Yousra was also a member of the North Darfur Parliament of Youth. In her opinion it was a good initiative to improve the abilities and talents of the children. It trained children how to act if they were member of a Parliament and taught them the rules and formalities of governance.

Even if Yousra doesn’t want to become a politician, she says that if she was a decision-maker, she would establish internet cafes to give access for youth to computers and Internet. She would open libraries and organize debates to fill the free time of young people. “These activities would help to develop their skills. Children and youth have too much time off, and this is a real problem. Many violations are committed by youth due to this.”

She would also construct sport facilities for girls, as currently they only exist for boys. This is not the only discrimination she says that girls are facing. At university level, girls are not allowed to enroll in the same faculties as boys. She is disappointed because some of them are blocked for females.

Yousra realizes that youth in Darfur have fewer possibilities to develop themselves than those in other parts of the world, especially in the education field. “To some extent, the school environment is not conducive. We don’t have libraries, and there is a lack of teachers, in terms of numbers and quality.”

Yousra Suleiman Al-Toum in El Fasher, North Darfur. Photo by Albert González Farran

If she had the chance to study abroad she wouldn’t miss it at all, because the opportunities are better outside Sudan, but she maintains that after her education, she would return to Sudan to serve her country. She is proud of it.

“The media have only presented a very bad image of Darfur to the world, just the killings and the destruction, but Darfur is a beautiful area. People are kind and I believe that it can have a bright future. The only black spot is the war. If we manage to clean it, it will be great,” she says

She is optimistic and hopes that Darfur will live soon in peace: “The people of Darfur have to stop war, stop tribal clashes and collect the arms from the people.” Yousra encourages her community to work harder for development, and set up projects so that all Sudan would benefit from the progress made. “The only way to the development of the region is peace, not war,” she remarks. “I believe that the UNAMID presence is a positive step. Since its arrival, the situation is better in Darfur. It plays a significant role.”

Her wishes are also transformed in words. She writes poems, and one of them won the Sudanese National School Competition in 2008. She says that people should live for art and poetry and put aside sorrows and grievances.

In 20 years, she imagines herself as a university graduate, and a very good journalist who is intent on solving the problems of children and young people. She would like to have a big family, although this would not stop her from continuing with her professional career. “I want to be a working mother. I would like to have a job as a journalist and take care of my family too,” she admits.

Finally, she hopes that “there will be peace in Darfur: it will be magnificently beautiful, free from wars, and there will be no internally displaced people. The region will not claim that it is marginalized. People will enjoy life in Darfur.”