Refugees & Migrants: Interview with Foni Joyce

foni Joyce is a refugee from South Sudan

phony thank you for joining us the

United Nations estimated that there were

20 million refugees worldwide at the end

of last year we often hear such macro

level statistics but it is the more

personal stories that can resonate and

bring about awareness and change can you

please tell us more about your own

experience as a refugee thank you so

much as you've said my name is Wendy

Joyce I was born in Sudan but originally

from South Sudan my parents fled our

country in 1981 due to war and they had

to like take a long walk from South

Sudan into Uganda before they made it to

Kenya and it was one of those

experiences you were literally running

for your life because my father was a

journalist yeah and there were people

pursuing him because they believed there

was an informant and he literally had to

take a long walk to just survive make

sure his family safe and he ended up in

Nairobi where we stay currently with my

siblings and my mother we are speaking

ahead of the UN General Assembly

high-level plenary meeting on addressing

large movements of refugees and migrants

to be held September 19th 2016 this will

serve as a key forum for member states

to determine a plan to meet refugees

immediate humanitarian and longer-term

development needs how can the outcome of

this summit make a difference for people

like you and your family the outcome of

this summit plays a vital role cause

policies will be made and the policies

that will be made when affect my life my

siblings life and other refugees in a

positive way because if policies are

made regarding education social services

regarding work permit and all that it

enables us as refugee to become

humanitarian actors in our own space it

gives us the capability moving empowered

and when

we empowered it automatically leads to

creating making us become piece builders

for a country so if there's a positive

policymaking from this summit then

definitely it has a great impact in our

life you've also been involved with the

global refugee youth consultations what

language do you hope to see in the

anticipated summit outcome document the

Global Compact on refugees to ensure the

unique contributions of young people to

this process are represented I hope to

see more opportunities for young people

more opportunities for them to voice out

the ideas more opportunities for them to

take leadership roles and skills because

I believe if they're given that

opportunity then definitely they become

leaders they become the change that we

want to see by enabled by this the whole

global summit and stuff yeah I hope to

see more educational opportunities for

them capacity-building skills for them

and they become more enlightened and

more more active in what they're doing

so it changes their lives and they

become better people that will lead

their future generations

you mentioned peacebuilding youth are

often considered a threat by many what

do you think would help to ensure that

young people can be leaders in peace

building young people can be leaders in

peace building if they're given the

opportunity if they're powered if they

are mentored they are young people have

untapped potential and if they ignored

if no one pays attention to them then

anything that will make will anyone or

anything that will pay attention to them

distracts them but if we pay attention

to the skills they have if we invest in

the skills that young people have then

definitely they become peacebuilders if

we ignore them and think of them as

passive actors it won't really matter

much because they'll feel like no one is

paying attention to them but if we take

that time and give them the

tenshun they want if we listen to them

if we mentor them if we build their

skills if we if we walk with them mentor

mentoring them in different things in

different spaces then they'll see the

need of using this potential they have

and we end up becoming peace builders

well thank you so much for joining us

and sharing your story it was a

privilege thank you

you