As part of the UN Secretary General’s call for action to respond to the famine crisis and heightened food insecurity in South Sudan, UNDP has activated its crisis response mechanism.

JUBA, South Sudan, April 3, 2017/APO/ --

As part of the UN Secretary General’s call for action to respond to the famine crisis and heightened food insecurity in South Sudan, UNDP has activated its crisis response mechanism to provide boosted capacity and resources towards joined up humanitarian and recovery interventions that serve the needs of the most vulnerable.

The UNDP crisis response planning team led by David Clapp, from the Regional Bureau for Africa, and senior officials from the Crisis Response Unit and Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, joined UNDP South Sudan country office led by Jean-Luc Stalon, Acting Country Director, in Aweil.

The team met and discussed with the key stakeholders including Governor of Aweil State His Excellency Ronald Ruay Deng; Aweil State Minister of Finance and Public Service Honorable Garang Majak Bol; UNMISS, UNICEF, WFP, UNOCHA, UNFAO, and other development partners.

The state is extremely appreciative of UNDP’s support which has injected a sense of hope amongst the vulnerable communities

‘The state is extremely appreciative of UNDP’s support which has injected a sense of hope amongst the vulnerable communities,” said Honourable Mr. Ruay Deng.

The mission visited key community infrastructure constructed with UNDP support.

“I am encouraged to visit the newly completed vocational training institute and the community market infrastructure in Aweil, which are key for kick-starting recovery and building resilience through sustainable livelihood opportunities for women and youth in Aweil,” said Mr. Stalon

Contributing towards a scaled up strategic response, UNDP jointly with UNICEF, FAO, UNHCR and WFP are advancing on an integrated recovery and resilience-building area-based programme, to build a bulwark against the spread of famine in South Sudan. Aweil will serve as one of the first pilot initiatives in a three-pronged approach addressing basic services, social cohesion and reinvigorating the local economy.

Distributed by APO on behalf of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).