Kiir stresses that the goal is “sustainable peace, economic growth and poverty reduction”
June 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government of South Sudan has presented a national plan aimed at strengthening institutions and promoting transparent and inclusive governance by 2024, within the framework of the implementation of the peace agreement signed in 2018 between the president, Salva Kiir, and the main rebel leader and current first vice president, Riek Machar.
The document has the declared objective of moving the country towards equality, justice, peace and prosperity, as well as fostering macroeconomic stability through greater diversification to end dependence on oil.
The plan seeks to build critical infrastructure for the country, including highways, and consolidate the application of the peace agreement, as well as increase support at the social security level to guarantee coverage of the needs of the most vulnerable population.
Likewise, one of its objectives is to give a gender perspective to development programs and empower women and young people to promote the growth and development of the African country.
“Our shared vision and optimism is to build a prosperous country where citizens of all ages seek happiness guided and governed by the rule of law and dream of a brighter future, believing in the possibility of avoiding acts of violence” Kiir said in a statement.
The text, read by Machar during an official act, also highlights that “optimism derives from the strategic pillars to restore dignity as a nation and as a people”, as reported by the South Sudanese radio station Eye Radio.
In this sense, Kiir has stressed the Government’s “commitment” to an “investment program” to promote “national unity” and “inclusive political and economic institutions that guarantee sustainable peace, economic growth and poverty reduction “.
The application of this plan would cost some 7,200 million dollars (nearly 6,837 million euros) during the next few years, in the midst of the serious humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, where nearly nine million people need help due to the high levels of food insecurity.
In this sense, the special representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, warned Tuesday before the Security Council that “the window of opportunity is closing” for the country to reach “its points of critical reference”.
South Sudan has a unity government that was launched after the 2018 peace agreement materialized. The South Sudanese Presidency announced in January 2020 that the parties to the peace agreement had agreed to once again extend the transition period, this time until 2023, to give room for the application of the clauses of the pact, in the midst of international requests to speed up the process.
Despite the decrease in violence due to the political conflict, the country has registered an increase in inter-community clashes, mainly motivated by cattle theft and disputes between herders and farmers in the most fertile areas of the country, especially due to the increase in desertification and population displacement.
Add Comment