# A Community Empowerment Framework to Promote Social Connection and Engagement of South Sudanese Youth in Australia

## TL;DR

This paper proposes a framework to improve the social connection and wellbeing of South Sudanese youth in Australia through community empowerment strategies.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is a Community Empowerment Framework developed through direct input from South Sudanese youth and community members in Melbourne.

## Key findings

- Four key themes were identified: health and wellbeing, racism, sports, and intergenerational conflict.
- The proposed framework includes personal, career, and community-level strategies for empowerment.
- The framework is designed to guide service providers and policymakers in supporting South Sudanese youth.

## Abstract

Background: Significant factors impact the wellbeing of South Sudanese youth who settle in Australia. This article proposes a community empowerment framework based on outcomes from research and community feedback undertaken in Melbourne, with South Sudanese youth and elders to improve social connection and community engagement of the youth. Methods: Twenty-three semi-structured interviews, four focus groups and two community forums were conducted using qualitative, case study methodology. Data were collected from South Sudanese youth aged 14 to 21 years, social workers, elders and parents from the South Sudanese community. Inductive thematic analysis was used to gain an understanding of the social issues facing South Sudanese youth, Results: Four themes—health and wellbeing, the experience of racism, sports and intergenerational conflict—were identified during analysis. These themes were then used to develop and propose a Community Empowerment Framework (CEF), that outlines strategies to empower South Sudanese youth to improve their wellbeing at different levels: personal empowerment, career empowerment and community empowerment (both internal and external). Conclusions: The CEF provides a community-informed model for service providers and policy makers to promote positive community engagement and social connection to improve the lives of South Sudanese youth living in Australia.