Germany provides €20m for community resilience in South Sudan

February 8, 2024 (JUBA) The German Government provided an additional contribution of €20 million for the Joint Resilience Project supporting the building of community resilience in South Sudan.

The UN Children Fund (UNICEF) and World Food Programme (WFP) are implementing the project.

The generous contribution was channelled through the German KfW Development Bank and enables the extension and expansion of services to improve and build community resilience in targeted urban and peri-urban areas of the country.

Launched in December 2019, the project is designed to enhance community resilience to shocks and stressors through increasing access and use of a broad range of services.These include services like education, child protection, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, nutrition, food security as well as livelihoods services.

“Germany’s financial contribution to the Joint Resilience Project now amounts to a total of €112 million making it one of the flagship projects of German development cooperation in South Sudan. Germany is proud to fund this project, which helps to improve the livelihoods of more than half a million South Sudanese people. Through the collaboration with our implementing partners UNICEF and WFP we are able to provide much needed basic services,” said Christian Sedat, the German envoy in South Sudan.

Implemented in Juba, Torit, Yambio and Aweil, the project’s activities involve the rehabilitation of schools, installation of water and sanitation facilities, provision of daily school meals, immunizations, training for teachers as well as health and nutrition workers.

“We are immensely thankful to the German Government for this continued support. With these funds, UNICEF can further its efforts in providing vital services to children and families in South Sudan, ensuring they have the services and community resources and structures to cope with and adapt to various challenges,” said UNICEF Representative, Hamida Lasseko.

WFP’s Country Director in South Sudan Mary-Ellen McGroarty said “the programme is extremely important to build long term resilience and food security in South Sudan as it supports families through all their life stages. From malnourished children and students at schools through to working adults, the programme ensures no one is left behind”.

The project has already supported over 51,000 school children for their education through scholastic materials, teacher training and school meals. Almost 405,000 children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers benefited from support to treat and prevent malnutrition, and nearly 48,000 farmers were supported with resilience-building activities.

Since its inception, the Joint Resilience Project has made significant progress in improving the living conditions and resilience of communities in the targeted areas, which are characterised by their potential for large-scale returns/relocations of internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees, relative stability, and the presence of complementary resilience projects with other UN agencies.

(ST)