The UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, Alain Noudéhou, and Deputy Minister of Finance, Goc Makuach Mayol, launched the UN Cooperation Framework (UNCF) 2019 to 2021 together at an event in Juba on Monday.
Also present were the Ministers of Agriculture, Humanitarian Affairs and the Deputy Minister of Labor as well as other Senior Officials, development partners and representatives of civil society together with representatives of the agencies in the UN Country Team.
The UNCF 2019-2021 will serve as a strategic framework to guide the work of UN Agencies in South Sudan in the next three years, and it succeeds the Interim Cooperation Framework 2016 – 2018 (ICF).
The UNCF outlines the strategic objectives of the UN Development System in South Sudan to support resilience and recovery efforts in the country as well as capacity building and institution building.
Mr Noudéhou said in his remarks that the launch came at a moment of renewed hope in South Sudan with new opportunities, and he noted that for the aspirations of the UNCF to be successful, the peace process needs to hold, and the government needs to direct more investments in key areas of the new National Development Strategy (NDS).
He emphasized that the implementation of the UNCF will build on strong partnership and the existing collaboration with government partners, the NGO community and with donors.
On his part, the Deputy Minister of Finance noted that the launch of the UNCF was timely as the government had recently launched its National Development Strategy. He urged all partners to work together and find opportunities to begin the recovery process.
The launch was followed by an informal roundtable dialogue that discussed challenges and opportunities for agriculture as a key contributor to economic recovery and reducing food insecurity. The dialogue had participation of Dr. Eliud Kiplimo Kireger, Director General of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), who was invited as a guest to the event.