South Sudanese women and children marching in support of peace. |File Photo|.
More than 230,000 children, youth, and women in South Sudan’s Rubkona, Malakal, and Akobo counties will benefit from the new EU-funded project “Building Resilient Communities: Empowering South Sudan for Peace and Prosperity”.
The ambition of this new action – started last January 2024 – is to lead to better implementation of the rule of law, human rights, stronger female and youth leadership, entrepreneurship, and economic development, improved agricultural productivity, and more peaceful natural resource management.
Furthermore, it will improve access to sustainable, clean water systems, and contribute to resilient and peaceful communities that are protected from violence and other harm, able to survive, and prepared to face future challenges to support a more stable, resilient, and peaceful South Sudan.
The official launch was attended by officials from the European Union, donor representatives, GIZ and other implementing partners for the action, Ministry of Peace Building and Reconciliation, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, County Commissioners, and the South Sudan Child Parliamentarians among others in Juba.
Save the Children as the lead implementing partner for the project will work with War Child Holland, Tearfund, Coalition for Humanity, and WOCO to expand community peaceful co-existence and resilience services to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), host communities, returnees, and refugees) in three conflict-affected states Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Unity.
The project also addresses cross-cutting issues of Women and Youth Empowerment, Human Rights, Gender equality mainstreaming, and climate-smart programming with a focus on sustainable economies, basic services, and specific peacebuilding activities while complementing the Dutch Relief Alliance’s ongoing humanitarian response interventions in the targeted areas.
Sophie Chambers, the Acting Country Director of Save the Children South Sudan said this integrated project represents a pivotal step towards empowering grassroots civil society and local authorities in South Sudan to develop and implement sustainable solutions to the multifaceted challenges they face.
“By placing local leadership at the forefront, we are not only strengthening governance and resilience at the community level but also cultivating community-owned solutions that can endure long after external support has concluded,” Chambers said.
“This approach has the transformative potential to mitigate conflicts, enhance local resilience to climate-related shocks, and lay the foundation for a more prosperous and self-reliant future for the people of South Sudan,” she added.
Many families in South Sudan have lost their livelihoods due to conflict and displacement, exacerbating food insecurity and poverty.
The project is timely for South Sudan, as the country is currently facing multiple challenges. These challenges include communal conflict, economic melt-down, flooding during rainy seasons, heatwaves during dry season, and poor harvests.
Additionally, the ongoing conflict in neighboring countries of Sudan, parts of Congo, and Central Africa have driven thousands of refugees and returnees into the country, leaving approximately 9 million people, in critical humanitarian needs.
In his opening remarks, Lothar Jaschke, EU Deputy Head of Delegation, underlined that “Under this project, EU and its partners support the government and stakeholders in building robust local governance structures that are responsive and accountable to the communities they serve. The EU is a long-standing friend to the people of South Sudan We will do our best, together with implementing partners, local communities, and government agencies to deliver concrete and positive changes on the ground. We want this action to be a real game changer for the 230.000 beneficiaries of this action”.
