World Bank approved 40 million US Dollars grant to fund a two and half years project to provide income support to nearly 430 000 low income South Sudanese.
The Project will be implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services or UNOPS.
It is to address rising socio-economic vulnerability and rapidly roll-out immediate direct income support and provide income security to the most vulnerable households including people with extreme vulnerabilities.
UNOPS will deliver the South Sudan Safety Net Project in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ministry of Gender and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
This is to ensure that low income and vulnerable people are provided with reliable access to income opportunities and temporary employment.
‘I am very pleased that South Sudan is receiving additional funding which will be used to build on the achievements of previous safety net projects while scaling up the provision of predictable and reliable cash transfers to vulnerable South Sudanese,’ said Josephine Joseph Lagu, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security.
‘This will not only improve food security for thousands of people, but it will also increase their resilience to economic and climate-related crises or shocks,’ she added,’ she added.
‘In the first phase, the SSSNP will scale up direct income support in Juba County to provide rapid cash transfers to address emerging vulnerabilities amidst COVID 19 outbreak’, Husam Abudagga, World Bank Country Manager for South Sudan.
“As the COVID 19 situation subsides, cash transfers will be expanded in all the other nine project locations across the country,’ he disclosed.
Peter Mutoredzanwa, Country Representative of UNOPS in South Sudan, reiterated that ‘UNOPS continues to work closely with the World Bank, the Government of South Sudan and other key partners to deliver essential social services, improve living conditions and enhance social development’.
He further added that ‘the project will address immediate consumption gaps by scaling up cash transfers to poor and vulnerable households by facilitating improved and more frequent meals.’