2022 Volume 31 Issue 2 Pages 17-30
This paper examines the sustainability of the effects of national sport competitions, which is named National Unity Day (NUD), on participating athletes in South Sudan by comparing athletes who participated in NUD for the first time with those who have participated in past NUDs, using data from questionnaires and testimonies from interviews. The results showed statistically that athletes who had participated in past NUDs had lower emotional barriers towards other ethnic groups and a higher level of trust in other ethnic groups than athletes who had participated in NUDs for the first time. This paper also showed that even after the NUD, the athletes continued to act as peace ambassadors such as talking about their experiences in the NUD and the importance of peace to their friends, family and community, and spreading their messages through the radio and so forth. Regarding sustainability of the effectiveness of NUD, this paper found that the athletes have maintained their friendship, trust and social network established in the NUD and also tried to accumulate its effects in the community after returning back to their communities. This indicates that the effects through NUDs are not temporary, but are maintained and sustained even after the NUDs. Since this paper confirmed the sustainability of effects of NUD, sport events shall be considered as a tool for peacebuilding efforts and it is important to continue to hold NUDs in order to enhance social cohesion in South Sudan.
