A new female ward was on Thursday handed over to authorities at Yei Central Prison in Central Equatoria State.

The modern two-roomed prison facility, which was constructed by ZOA International with funding from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), comprises of latrines and sanitary sections.

Speaking during the handover ceremony, Joice Sitima, the project manager of ZOA’s said the project was implemented with the aim of improving the living conditions of female inmates at the prison.

 “ZOA signed an agreement with UNMISS to construct some two facilities at the prison called dignified living conditions for female inmates in Yei Central Prison. The construction is over and we are happy to officially hand over the facilities to prison,” she explained.

The acting prison director, Gore Wurjo Kenyi said the newly-constructed facility will improve living conditions of female inmates.

“These structures you see here were constructed since the time of Aboud [former Sudanese president] and all these periods, nothing was done on Yei prisons. But today we have new shinning structures at the prison. So we need to thank UNMISS and the Ministry of Interior for working hard together with NGOs to improve the prison services in South Sudan,” he said.

The head of UNMISS in Yei, James Mugo said the project was designed to improve human rights conditions and the rule of law.

“The enhancement of Yei Central Prison will promote the work of human rights and the rule of law observation and this prison will support the rule of law in South Sudan,” he said.

For his part, Amule Felix, the administrator for the defunct Yei River State pledged to erect a permanent structure at Yei Central Prison to provide security and protection to the inmates.