The Royal Norwegian Embassy in South Sudan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on Friday announced the signing of a three-year partnership agreement to implement a new project, Governance and Economic Management Support (GEMS), for the implementation of the revitalized peace deal across the country.
In a statement issued by UNDP, the overarching goal of the partnership is to set South Sudan on a pathway to sustainable peace and development.
The project, the statement said, will focus on improved state-citizens relations and effective service delivery through expertise, leadership, and capacities to implement the peace deal; enabling economic and governance institutions to manage public resources in an accountable and inclusive manner; and capacitating national integrity systems to deliver their mandates.
It pointed out that successful implementation of the revitalized peace deal will create opportunities for strengthening national institutions for service delivery and entrenching peace and social cohesion in the country.
"The Governance and Economic Management Support Project and the additional contribution to the South Sudan Reconciliation, Stabilization and Resilience Trust Fund will support the implementation of the peace agreement in two different ways: one is by providing support to stabilization efforts and various activities to reconcile communities and to build resilience; and, through GEMS, provide key institutions in the Government with the capacity they need to transform the public service and to provide government functions that can deliver on the peace agreement," said Lars Andersen, Ambassador of Norway to South Sudan.
"Strengthening the right institutions with the right systems and capacities to deliver services to the people, with quality and integrity, is key to ensure that the future the people in South Sudan desire – of peace, stability and prosperity – is achieved," said Kamil Kamaluddeen, UNDP Resident Representative.
The signing of the partnership was witnessed by the minister of labour, the deputy minister of finance, the UN women country representative, and a number of senior government officials, thank tank and civil society representatives.
The project will be directly implemented by UNDP from August 2019 through December 2022 for a total cost of US$ 28.3 million.