The contribution of the diaspora to the reconstruction of education in South Sudan: the challenge of being involved from a distance

In May 2012, a picture of South Sudanese refugees (Internally Displaced Persons) travelling by boat from North to South appeared in one of the Dutch newspapers (Broere 2012). The boat was packed with young adults, all of them male, standing upright and looking into the distance. The title of the article accompanying the picture, read: ‘Better life in free South Sudan remains an empty promise after one year’. One of the reasons given was: ‘Jobs are given to ex-combatants who have not received any education. Well educated youth from the diaspora have no chance and hardly contribute to the reconstruction of their country of birth’ (Broere 2012, 17, our translation). The news article reflects the topicality of the dynamics of diaspora involvement in the reconstruction of the education sector in South Sudan addressed in this article.