US Ambassador to South Sudan Michael J. Adler and the USAID Mission Director for the country, David Thompson, have expressed their gratitude to the 32 partners that implement the aid agency’s humanitarian and development assistance in the African state.
Adler and Thompson expressed the sentiments on October 17 during a meeting with the partners in Juba. They also discussed assistance coordination in South Sudan’s challenging humanitarian, security, and economic context.
The US government is the largest provider of assistance to South Sudan, contributing over $700 million in life-saving humanitarian assistance during the past year, amid worsening seasonal flooding, the arrival of more than 800,000 returnees and refugees fleeing war in Sudan, and other shocks driving humanitarian needs.
USAID also provided $55 million over the past year in development assistance toward democracy and governance, education and youth, economic growth, and health.
Adler told the implementing partners that the transitional government had failed to create conditions for the US or others to invest in traditional development programs in South Sudan, let alone demonstrate commitment to building a better future for the people.
The Ambassador called upon the transitional government to account for public revenue and invest in development.
Thompson, who began his tenure in South Sudan on October 3, told USAID partners that the US and the aid agency supported the aspirations of the South Sudanese people for peace, freedom, and development.
“The American people and USAID have long understood and supported the aspirations of the South Sudanese people for peace, freedom, and development to reach their potential as a young nation.
“We share the South Sudanese people’s disappointment that the years since independence have not provided the peace, opportunities, equity, and inclusion they long struggled for,” Thompson said.