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Marial Bai Youth Multi-Purpose Centre: A Hub for Peace and Empowerment
The African Christian Ecumenical Alliance (ACEA), with funding from UNMISS, implemented a Community Violence Reduction (CVR) project to establish the Marial Bai Youth Multi-Purpose Centre in Marial Bai Payam, Jur River County, Western Bahr el Ghazal State, South Sudan. Completed in November 2025, the centre was created as a dedicated community space to promote peacebuilding, social cohesion, youth and women’s empowerment, and constructive engagement among conflict-affected populations.
More than a physical structure, the centre represents a long-term investment in peace, dialogue, and resilience in an area affected by inter-communal violence, displacement, and limited access to youth-focused services. It provides a neutral and inclusive space where internally displaced persons (IDPs), host communities, cattle keepers, and farmers can come together to address conflict, share ideas, access services, and build stronger community relationships.
Marial Bai Payam has experienced recurrent tensions linked to inter-communal violence, displacement, and competition over natural resources, particularly between cattle keepers and farming communities. At the same time, the area has historically received less development and peacebuilding attention than other parts of Jur River County, leaving significant gaps in youth engagement, community dialogue, and social cohesion programming.
The absence of a safe and neutral community space limited opportunities for structured dialogue, peace education, skills development, and collaborative problem-solving among groups affected by conflict. In response, ACEA implemented this CVR initiative to create a functional and accessible centre that could serve as a hub for peacebuilding, community engagement, and empowerment of youth and women.
The project aimed to strengthen peace, social cohesion, and community resilience in Marial Bai by establishing a multi-purpose centre that supports dialogue, youth and women’s empowerment, and peaceful coexistence among conflict-affected populations.
The Marial Bai Youth Multi-Purpose Centre serves as a platform for ongoing peace dialogue and conflict resolution among diverse community groups. It creates a neutral environment where displaced populations, host communities, cattle keepers, and farmers can engage in discussions aimed at rebuilding trust, resolving disputes, and strengthening peaceful coexistence.
The centre also supports community education and dialogue around the Marial Bai Agreement, helping to improve understanding of agreed principles between cattle keepers and farmers and reducing the risk of land-use and resource-based conflict.
The centre is designed to host capacity-building and training programmes targeted at young people and women, equipping them with practical knowledge and skills that can improve resilience, strengthen livelihoods, and enhance employability. By creating opportunities for personal development and economic participation, the project contributes to addressing youth unemployment and reducing vulnerabilities that can fuel instability.
The project delivered a fully functional and furnished multi-purpose centre equipped to support a wide range of community activities. The facility includes:
This infrastructure provides the physical foundation for sustained peacebuilding, training, and community engagement initiatives in Marial Bai.
The establishment of the centre has provided Marial Bai with a much-needed neutral and inclusive venue for dialogue, conflict resolution, training, and social interaction. This creates new opportunities for communities affected by displacement and violence to engage constructively and collaboratively.
By creating a platform for training and empowerment activities, the centre enhances access to skills development and livelihood-oriented programming for young people and women, supporting their active participation in community recovery and peacebuilding.
The centre contributes to stronger social cohesion by bringing together groups that have historically experienced tension and division. Its role in supporting dialogue between cattle keepers, farmers, IDPs, and host communities helps foster understanding, trust, and shared responsibility for peace.
As a permanent and functional facility, the Marial Bai Youth Multi-Purpose Centre is a long-term community asset that can continue to host peacebuilding, civic engagement, training, and development activities well beyond the lifespan of the initial project.
The formal handover of the centre—attended by the Governor and Deputy Governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal, the UNMISS Head of Field Office, and local community leaders—marked the beginning of the centre’s operational life rather than the end of the project. The facility now stands as a visible symbol of unity, resilience, and the shared commitment to peaceful coexistence in Marial Bai.
By creating a safe, inclusive, and functional space for dialogue and empowerment, the Marial Bai Youth Multi-Purpose Centre lays a strong foundation for continued peacebuilding and community recovery in Jur River County.
The Marial Bai Youth Multi-Purpose Centre: A Hub for Peace and Empowerment demonstrates ACEA’s commitment to addressing the root causes of violence through practical, community-based solutions. By investing in a permanent space for peace dialogue, skills development, and social cohesion, the project has created an enduring platform for youth and women’s empowerment, conflict resolution, and stronger relationships among conflict-affected communities in Marial Bai.
Have questions about ACEA and our work? Below are some of the most commonly asked questions about who we are, what we do, and how we support vulnerable communities across Africa through humanitarian response, recovery, and resilience-building initiatives.
The African Christian Ecumenical Alliance (ACEA) is a faith-based humanitarian and development organization working to empower vulnerable communities across Africa through relief, recovery, resilience, and spiritual support initiatives.
ACEA works in disaster relief and recovery, community resilience, peace building, education support, livelihood improvement, trauma healing, and humanitarian response.
ACEA supports vulnerable populations including refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), returnees, women, children, persons with disabilities, and host communities affected by crisis and poverty.
You can support ACEA by donating, partnering with us, volunteering, or helping amplify our mission to reach vulnerable communities across Africa.
Empowering communities, advancing equality, and creating long-term social change through advocacysupport.
Hai Mayo, Juba South Sudan RJR2+CF8, Juba, South Sudan
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