Nearly one hundred thousand (100,000) vulnerable people from fifteen thousand five hundred (15,500) households in Juba started receiving cash transfers through the World Bank funded South Sudan Safety Net Project (SSSNP) according to the UN office for Project Services (UNOPS).
The statement issued by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) said the cash transfers are being managed in partnership with the government of South Sudan.
Launched in July 2020, the SSSNP aims to support some 430,000 low-income and vulnerable individuals across 10 counties in South Sudan in Juba, Pibor, Bor, Kapoeta East, Torit, Tonj South, Gogrial West with cash assistance to meet their urgent needs and invest in their household welfare.
“UNOPS will continue the cash payments with the same momentum and scale up to the other locations in our bid to reach our target of 65,000 beneficiary households,” said Peter Mutoredzanwa, UNOPS Country Director and Representative in South Sudan.
It disclosed that the target beneficiaries include vulnerable members of society like women headed households, children, people living with disabilities, and the elderly.
The project provides beneficiary households US$40.5 per month for a period of 9 months. Since the launch of cash transfers in March 2021 about USD2 million has been transferred to the targeted poorest and most vulnerable households.
“ As we scale up to the other locations, in consultation with the Government and World Health Organisation (WHO), we will explore the commencement of COVID compliant public works activities to enhance community assets for flood controls and other natural resource management above the cash that will be provided,” disclosed Mutoredzanwa.
Dr. John Ogoto Kanisio, Under Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security said that specifically they are prioritizing Juba because of the disproportionate impact of COVID- 19 on poor and urban households.
He said the project is being implemented in a COVID-19 sensitive manner to respond to increasing vulnerabilities and mitigate contagion risks.
Meanwhile, Esther Ikere Eluzai, Undersecretary in the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare said that the project will facilitate a shift in gender relations and attitudes by enabling women to receive cash assistance.
She added that the cash transfers to women will improve nutrition, health and education to all members of the households.
“The SSSNP is critical to address economic vulnerabilities in South Sudan and the cash distribution is expected to make a real contribution towards strengthening the resilience and supporting the livelihoods of the neediest and most deserving households in South Sudan,” Husam Abudagga, World Bank Country Manager for South Sudan.
Abudagga disclosed that this project is one of the flagship interventions by the World Bank to strengthen the humanitarian-development nexus as well as the foundational building blocks of the social safety net system in South Sudan.
Preparations are also underway to extend the program and start cash payments in Bor, Torit and Gogrial West that are experiencing acute food insecurity due to multiple shocks including floods and the locust invasion.
70-year-old Kelida Wilson, a recipient of the cash assistance said that it has not been easy for his family these past months, adding that the situation has been worsened by COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the financial support I have received from this project, I am going to stock the house with food and other basic needs,” said Wilson.
Since May 2020, the UNOPS has been working with the South Sudan’s Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security; Gender, Child and Social Welfare; and Finance and Planning to implement the project over the next two-and-a-half years.
