29 June 2014 - Citizens of Warrap State were reaping benefits from maintaining peace in the state, UNMISS State Coordinator Leda Limann said today in the state capital Kuajok.

Ms. Limann was speaking at an UNMISS ceremony to hand over a classroom and teachers’ office to the state government.

Using funds from UNMISS Quick Impacts Projects (QIPs), the buildings were constructed by an implementing partner, The Organization for Children’s Harmony (TOCH), at Kuajok Academy Secondary School.

“You received this facility today because Warrap State is peaceful,” said Ms. Limann. “We were one of only three states that were able to meet the requirements to get additional funding of $50,000. This money was meant for (other) states that could not utilize it due to the conflict in those areas.”

The State Coordinator stressed that the future of South Sudan lay in developing children, especially by sending them to school.

The new classroom was handed over with 20 new desks, while the teachers’ office was furnished with eight chairs and four tables.

Following the signing and handover formalities, Director General of the State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Adriano Kiir said it was a big achievement for the school to receive another classroom and teachers’ office through UNMISS QIPs.

Last year, Kuajok Academy Secondary School received two classrooms under an initial QIPs programme aimed at increasing learning space to accommodate the high number of students who could not enroll at existing schools due to a classroom shortage.

“We have students who sit under trees for classes and (also) sit for their examinations under trees,” said Mr. Kiir. “With the help of UNMISS, our students will not suffer again.”