Aid Agencies Urge Donors to Prioritise South Sudan Support.

London, 6 July 2011: A new report authored by a coalition of 38 aid agencies including Malaria Consortium calls on donors to get their priorities for tackling poverty in the new Republic of South Sudan right from the start. Donors are due to meet with Government of South Sudan officials in coming months to discuss development priorities.

The joint paper says that donors should harness the potential for a positive impact in the world’s newest nation and outlines key priorities for donors. Its release came as new violence in Jonglei state increased pressure on an already fragile infrastructure. 

South Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world, with half the population living below the poverty line and, after decades of conflict, its government structure and systems are being built virtually from scratch. The role that bilateral and multilateral donors choose to play will be critical in helping to the capacity of the government of South Sudan, so it is able to provide more and better services for its people including effective security and rule of law across the country. 

“Aid agencies are currently responsible for most of basic service delivery in South Sudan including health,” explained Malaria Consortium Country Director for South Sudan, Ruth Allan. “It is vital that donors continue supporting these services as they support the new Government of South Sudan to provide more and better services for its people.”

“Malaria Consortium has signed up to this report to urge the donor community to support the new Government to get things right from the start by providing needed resources to continue delivering our programmes and carrying out our research in the new Republic of South Sudan,” said Ms Allan. “We are currently working with the Ministry of Health and Country Health Departments to strengthen health systems and are continuing to access hard to reach rural populations to provide treatment for malaria and need donor support to continue this work.”

Read the full press release here
Read the report: Getting it Right from the Start: Priorities for action in the New Republic of South Sudan
Malaria Consortium’s work in South Sudan 

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