By Mary Poni
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) signed a confirmation document of twenty-five million Euros to implement basic project for the people affected by conflict in the country.
The partners stated yesterday during the signing ceremony that they are set to target 120,000 local populations who will benefit from the amount granted by the European Union.
With financial support from the EU, the development partners launched the project dubbed as “Strengthened Access to Education and Livelihoods and Enhanced Reintegration and Community Cohesion in Areas Affected by Displacement and Returning.”
The Head of cooperation at the EU delegation, Gabriel Leonte said South Sudanese are strong and resilient people who have gone through repeated cycles of deprivation, hardship and violence.
He said with the additional program the EU delegation reaffirms its commitment to enhance the resilience of vulnerable populations in South Sudan.
The project is to target girls, boys, women and men, families, communities and wider system and offers a wide range of services and activities that will help them build more sustainable and resilient lives.
There are two million people displaced in South Sudan and after years of conflict and unrest, some displaced families are starting to return to their original homes according to UN agencies.
The new conflict in some areas, underdevelopment, climate-related shock, hyperinflation and unemployment have eroded livelihoods and coping strategies and precluded communities from recovering from effects of war.
To foster cohesion between communities, displaced people, and returnees and mitigate the impacts of lost livelihoods and infrastructure, the joint project will support people with a range of initiatives including education, livelihoods, schools feeding, climate resilience and activities to promote social cohesion.
On behalf of IOM Chief of Mission to South Sudan Peter Van Der, the acting head of operation Kristina Uzelac stated that the project is taking an integrated multi-sectorial support focusing on displaced populations and host communities.
“To unlock the country’s full potential and to give its people a chance to a dignified existence, we need to move from humanitarian assistance to development in all parts of the country where this is possible,” said Kristina.
Meanwhile on behalf of the Acting Country Director for WFP Mrs. Adeyinka Badejo, Harald Mannhardt said that families affected by conflict and extreme weather have lost their livelihoods and have no means to support themselves or to feed their children.
According to Adeyinka, the project will provide children from both returnee and host communities with daily nutritious school meals which relive parents from having budget for lunch and encourages greater enrolment and retention of Children in Schools.
The components of the program have been designed to be meaningfully interconnected.
“The beneficiaries will be provided with integrated package of education, child-protection, nutrition interventions, including feeding in schools that will support children to learn, whilst also enabling adults to obtain numeracy, literacy and life skills essential to strengthen their prospects for sustainable livelihood and income generation,” she added.
The project was described to run for three years which the implementation will commence in the beginning of 2023 in the affected regions.