The Oversight Committee of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Southern Sudan on Wednesday approved three projects to benefit from the support of the Fund totaling 113 million US Dollars.
The Water and Sanitation, Health Umbrella and Police and Prisons projects were submitted for approval by the GoSS Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, the Ministry of Health and the UNDP, respectively.The Water and Sanitation Project, valued at 30 million dollars, will improve the existing water supplies by rehabilitating water facilities and constructing new ones throughout Southern Sudan.
The Health Umbrella Project will provide drugs worth 30 million dollars for the whole of Southern Sudan from February 2010 to 2011.
The project also includes 33 million dollars to create a Monitoring and Evaluation unit in the Ministry of Health and improvement of Health Management.
The Police and Prisons got 20 million dollars for office rehabilitation and training of the forces.
The Head of the Joint Donor Team in Juba, Michael Elmquist, explained it was cheaper to finance the provision of clean water than to treat water borne diseases.
A fourth project submitted by the Southern Sudan Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission was deferred to January to allow more time for consultations among donors and with GoSS on the wider DDR program in Southern Sudan.
The Oversight Committee consists of five GoSS senior members, four donor partners and the Head of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Southern Sudan Technical Secretariat who is the Manager of the World Bank Southern Sudan Program.