The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other UN agencies, with the Government of Upper Nile State, on Thursday in Malakal, launched a USD 3 million peacebuilding project to achieve peace and social cohesion in the state.
The project aims to support the sustainable reintegration of IDPs, returnees, and host communities by providing skills development, livelihood opportunities, and improved access to housing and essential services.
It will also strengthen local governance and inclusive community groups to foster local ownership and create an enabling environment for durable solutions.
Speaking during the launch of the project in Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile State, Natacha Kunama, Program Advisor at the UNDP, said the project is funded through the UN peacebuilding fund.
“This project was chosen to address one of the most urgent and complex issues in South Sudan, the reality of protracted displacement. Upper Nile State has endured cycles of violent conflicts, tensions, flooding, and displacements, all of which have implications on social cohesion, on access to land, services, and capacity for the community to rebuild itself,” she said. “As of today, over 40,000 people remain in the Malakal protection of civilians’ camp, and thousands more have recently returned from Sudan following the outbreak of violence, further straining the limited services.
“This project is therefore timely, strategic, and rooted in community realities and strives to create an enabling environment necessary for durable solutions. The project was designed to ensure inclusivity, participation of all, and is aligned with both state and national priorities,” Kunama added.
The official said the USD 3 million initiative will strengthen local governance and community engagement, ensuring that displaced and affected populations, women, youths, and minority groups have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their lives.
She added that the project will promote sustainable livelihoods and economic empowerment, access to adequate housing, lands, and community infrastructure, and also invest in trust building, social cohesion, and peaceful conflict resolution.
For his part, Pia Philip Michael, the Undersecretary in the Ministry of Peacebuilding, said the project, set to be based in Malakal, will focus on development rather than dependency on humanitarian aid.
“This is a stepping stone, this is the for you to move towards development like other states across South Sudan that are already on the path to development. However, Upper Nile, because of the conflict, has been behind,” he said. “This project will allow you to think about moving towards development. The project is very important. Although it is a small project for only 24 months, it builds a very strong base for moving forward for the people of Upper Nile State.”
Meanwhile, Nyanuer William Nyuon, Acting State Minister of Peacebuilding in Upper Nile State, said the state is grappling with achieving peace and social cohesion as a result of the division of the country into 32 states and a return to the previous ten states.
“It is very challenging now in Upper Nile State because the 32 states divided us more, pulling the state of Upper Nile into five parts, and returning them together is not easy; it is still challenging,” she said. “We still have land problems, hospital problems, a lot of problems.”
The minister noted that apart from the already existing problems, the state is also grappling with problems that came as a result of the conflict in Sudan that resulted in the influx of refugees and returnees, yet there were already IDPs.