By Staff writer
German Embassy in Juba on Friday awarded grants to two national NGOs aimed at improving community cohesion and fostering peace.
In press statement from the Embassy, Gender Equality and Social Support Organization (GESSO) and RECONCILE International benefited from the grants.
“GESSO will use the funding to build resilience and create effective collaborative solutions to address sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Mangateen IDP camp,” the statement noted.
Meanwhile, RECONCILE International will use the resources to conduct football tournaments in Kajo-Keji to bringing together communities and reducing tensions.
GESSO’s Executive Director, Ms. Sarah Nyanath Elijah anticipated that the project to have a significant impact on the lives of IDPs in Mangateen camp.
The project focuses on prevention strategies aim to reduce the number of Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) incidents.
“Our support services will provide survivors with improved access to medical, psychological and legal assistance,” she said.
Ms. Nyanath said that through capacity-building and economic empowerment programs, they hope to boost the self-confidence, independence, and resilience of differently abled women and girls.
Caption: German Head of Cooperation, Mr. Simon Ruf (Left), RECONCILE International Finance Officer, Ms. Lillian Matingi, and RECONCILE International Executive Director, Rev Peter Tibi (Right).
Rev. Peter Tibi, RECONCILE International’s Director expressed gratitude for the support from German Embassy in Juba.
He said the project has been a long-standing request from the people of Kajo-Keji.
“We look forward to implementing it and seeing its positive impact on the local community,” Rev. Tibi commended.
Rev. Tibi said the project aims to promote peace, reconciliation, forgiveness, and healing within the community by bringing youth together through football.
Simon Ruf, the German Head of Cooperation said that the support for GESSO program demonstrates their dedication to promoting gender equality and fighting SGBV.
He said the football tournament to be organized by RECONCILE International, will promote social cohesion and reduce tensions among conflict affected communities.
It’s also expected to offer confidence to people who are returning to their homes from exile.
“We are proud to work with local partners and support their extremely valuable work in helping to rebuild communities and foster peace.” Simon said.
According to Simon, as a longstanding partner of South Sudan, Germany supports the implementation of the peace process and the long-term development of the country.
Germany invests primarily in the strengthening of local governance, rural development, sustainable agriculture, gender equality and the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence.
Germany is also one of the largest contributors of humanitarian assistance in South Sudan.