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For all of the young people we met in our ten days in southern Sudan, the future was bleak. To learn more about what they needed to rebuild their lives, we sought out "returnees" -- those who had returned after fleeing to neighboring countries or to other areas of Sudan during the 21-year civil war between north and south Sudan. This war only ended when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in January 2005.

The youth we interviewed are almost part of a "lost generation," because the general assumption is that it will take at least a generation before the benefits of a lasting peace will be apparent. And still, no one knows today whether the CPA will be the road to that lasting peace. People are still being uprooted because of ongoing tribal conflicts and/or sporadic but serious military outbreaks between northern and southern armies in such towns as Abyei, Malakal and Pibor. Also, Uganda’s rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army, is crossing the border and causing more than 55,000 people to flee their homes.

Such constant trauma is part of the reason for the slow societal progress. Statistics tell the tale:

a.) Fewer than 50% of all children in south Sudan receive five years of primary school education.
b.) For every 1,000 primary school students, there is only one teacher.
c.) Only 27% of girls in southern Sudan are attending primary school.
d.) More than 90% of the population in southern Sudan currently lives on less than 1 dollar a day.
e.) Chronic hunger in southern Sudan has been reduced, but it still stands at 33%.

Many returnees lived in refugee camps abroad where they were able to receive an education and learned some livelihood skills. Similarly, internally displaced children who fled with their families to Khartoum probably received an education, but in the Arabic curriculum of the north, not the English curriculum of the south. So, they face additional challenges when they come home. As one UN official noted, "People are being encouraged to come back to nothing." That is especially true of the youth.

We met Ajang, 17, who is living in a village several miles south of Abyei. Fighting erupted in Abyei in May 2008, causing the entire population to flee as their town burned to the ground. Ironically, Ajang and her family had just returned to their home in Abyei from Khartoum the month before. They had fled to Khartoum during the north-south war, where she attended school. She was just two years away from getting her high school diploma when they decided to move back because her home area seemed to be at peace. But now, she and her family live on hand-outs and in someone else’s home. There is no school for Ajang to go to and no work to do. She feels useless, and afraid that she will never complete her degree. Yet, her family cannot return to Abyei. "There is only fighting in Abyei," she tells us. "We have to stay here as displaced people."

We also met John, 34, who left Kolnyan, a village in Jonglei state, when he was seventeen because of the war. He returned three years ago with his wife and two small children. During his years away, like many other people, he received food and schooling through international organizations. But now, back in his village there is no school feeding program from the World Food Program. The schools are crowded and ill-equipped, and there is no agricultural training, such as crop rotation or flood control. John wants to stay in Kolnyan because it is his "birthplace." But he tells us, "Don’t let us learn the wearing of clothes but not other things. We have to be taught so much else."