Stay or go? South Sudan’s young people weigh their futures at home and abroad
By Aguot Manut Athit
With jobs scarce and the economy in crisis, three young South Sudanese explain why they would stay, why they want to leave, and why they are still deciding.
Across South Sudan, many young people are struggling to build the future they dream of. Despite their education, skills and determination, unemployment and economic hardship continue to hold thousands of them back, and many are beginning to believe that success can only be found beyond the country’s borders.
Young people make up about 73 per cent of the population, and more than 95 per cent of them are unemployed, according to estimates given in February 2025 by David Dau, an executive director in the office of Vice President Rebecca Nyandeng. More than 60 per cent of those without work hold degrees, diplomas or certificates, he said, though he did not cite a source for the figures. Yet the wider economy offers little relief.
In March 2025, the World Bank said poverty had risen to 92 per cent, after disruption to oil exports, the government’s main source of income, cost an estimated $7 million a day and contributed to salary arrears for public workers. The African Development Bank reported the same figure in June 2025.
To understand how young people are weighing their options, three South Sudanese with very different views were interviewed for this story.
“Leaving is not an option”
For Deng Deng Atan, president of the South Sudan General Students’ Union, the problem starts after graduation. “Many youths graduate from universities, but they don’t have where they can work, because we don’t have enough options,” he said.
Even so, he has never thought of leaving, and he believes migration should not be seen as the only path to success. “I believe no matter how long it takes, the situation is going to change,” he said. “I think young people should also agree that leaving is not an option. We need to believe in sacrifice.”
He does not judge those who go, saying it “depends on how you think you can bear the situation”. But he warned against risky routes out. “There are many ways of making a living. Even if it is not that much, you can still live until changes come,” he said. “But going on a desperate journey, I think, is a risk.” Those journeys can end badly.
In 2023, South Sudan’s labour minister, James Hoth Mai, said more than 3,000 South Sudanese were stranded in Libya, the main departure point for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, after travelling on unsafe routes run by smugglers.
“I must be a doctor”
Not everyone shares Deng’s view. A young woman who works at a clinic and dreams of becoming a doctor said she has already made up her mind to study abroad.
“I’m not just dreaming to be a doctor, but I must be a doctor,” she said. “In fact, I don’t want to study in South Sudan. That is a fact. I want to go outside.”
Her story reflects the frustration many educated young people feel when their ambitions are limited by economic realities and a lack of opportunity. Her advice to her peers is to take their education seriously. “If you just go to school to pass by and you leave everything there, you’ll end up becoming a passenger in your own life,” she said. Young people of every background, she added, should “forget about uncles and cousins” and make their own way.
She has little hope that help will come. “Our government is just there. They have a lot of problems that they are still looking for solutions to,” she said. “So let’s also look for our own solutions instead of depending on them.”
Still here, for now
For a third young man, a student who also does business, the question is still open. He wants to become a teacher, but says poor schooling and a lack of jobs, even for those with qualifications, weigh on his generation.
“If I stay in South Sudan, I see there is no opportunity that may help me in the future,” he said. “But outside, if I go and study, get an education, then I may have something that may change my life.”
For now, he is staying. “Because there are a lot of problems, that’s why I’m still here,” he said. “But I think even if I’m here, I will do my best in the future.”
Who will address their issues?
In June 2026, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Atong Kuol Manyang, urged young South Sudanese not to leave. “Let them not leave the country because nobody else will address their issues,” she said. She warned against dangerous irregular routes, urged those who want to go abroad to use legal channels such as education opportunities and formal resettlement, and linked jobs to peace: “Once our country is calm, many investors will come back.”
Whether young people should stay and build at home or seek opportunities abroad has no single answer. But one thing is clear: young people need meaningful opportunities, quality education and economic empowerment to realise their full potential.
This story was produced by Aguot Manut Athit for the Digitalize Youth Mobile Journalism Fellowship.
Watch full video here https://youtu.be/oaHU0CVUIQI
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