25 Facts About Emmanuel Jal

Emmanuel Jal is a South Sudanese-Canadian artist, actor, author, former child soldier, and political activist.

Emmanuel Jal does not know exactly when he was born, and records his date of birth as 1 January 1980.

Emmanuel Jal was a young child when the Second Sudanese Civil War broke out.

Emmanuel Jal's father joined the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

When Emmanuel Jal was roughly seven years old, his mother was killed by Sudanese government soldiers.

Emmanuel Jal then decided to join the thousands of children travelling to Ethiopia seeking education and opportunity.

Along the way however, many of the children, Emmanuel Jal included, were recruited by the SPLA and taken to military training camps in the bush in Etwas disguised as a school in front of international aid agencies and UN representatives, but behind closed doors the children were training to fight.

Emmanuel Jal spent several years fighting with the SPLA in Ethiopia, until war broke out there too and the child soldiers were forced back into Sudan by the fighting and joined the SPLA's efforts to fight the government in the town of Juba.

In Waat, Emmanuel Jal met Emma McCune, a British aid worker married to senior SPLA commandant Riek Machar.

Emmanuel Jal was only 11 years old then and McCune insisted he should not be a soldier.

McCune died in a road accident a few months later, but her friends helped Emmanuel Jal to continue his studies.

However, after McCune died, her husband Machar did not agree with Emmanuel Jal staying with him, and he was forced to live in the slums.

Emmanuel Jal stayed in Kileleshwa with other refugees while attending Arboretum Sixth Form College.

Emmanuel Jal became very active in the community, raising money for local street children and refugees.

Emmanuel Jal's first single, "All We Need Is Jesus", was a hit in Kenya and received airplay in the UK.

Emmanuel Jal went on to produce his first album, Gua, a mix of rap in Arabic, English, Swahili, Dinka and Nuer.

Emmanuel Jal was awarded a 2005 American Gospel Music Award for best international artist.

Emmanuel Jal aims to protect the childhood of others through music.

Emmanuel Jal has passionately criticised the current state of hip hop culture in the United States.

Emmanuel Jal sees hip hop as a vehicle to communicate an authentic message, rather than a space to pursue street credibility.

Emmanuel Jal is a spokesman for the Make Poverty History campaign, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and the Control Arms campaign.

In 2008, Emmanuel Jal got involved in the musical movement of spreading awareness about current slavery and human trafficking by performing various songs for the rockumentary, Call+Response.

Emmanuel Jal completed a 661-day "Lose to Win" fast to build a school in Leer, Southern Sudan, in Emma McCune's honour.

Emmanuel Jal's most recent project is a Global Peace campaign called We Want Peace 2012.

Emmanuel Jal will discuss the role of youth activists in current human rights struggles across the globe.