Jubek Official calls for better collaboration on humanitarian and development issues

Jubek Official calls for better collaboration on humanitarian and development issues

Jubek Official calls for better collaboration on humanitarian and development issues

4 Jul 2017

Jubek Official calls for better collaboration on humanitarian and development issues

James Sokiri

The Deputy Governor of Jubek is urging humanitarian and development partners to work closely with the Government and local authorities to help South Sudanese communities become self-sufficient.

 

Many communities in Jubek, Greater Equatoria region, are suffering from a lack of food, water and adequate shelter as well as a longer-term lack of opportunity to find jobs and build businesses so they can support their families.

 

Speaking at a forum to discuss the challenges in Jubek, the Deputy Governor, Francis Latiu said all stakeholders needed to better understand their individual roles and responsibilities as well as how they could work together for the benefit of the community.

 

He said that, too often, the focus of partners and donors was on the short-term humanitarian needs during emergency situations than longer-term development initiatives needed to build and sustain durable peace.

 

“The sole provision of humanitarian assistance to the needy is simply not sustainable, but incorporating the development agenda into the roles and activities of all partners will help the population create sustainable livelihoods in the longer term,” he said.

 

Francis Latiu said it was important that humanitarian and development partners developed strong links with State governments and that the delivery of services to communities were transparent and accountable.

 

The forum, launched a decade ago, included representatives from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), South Sudan Red Cross, Jubek State Ministries of Agriculture, Health and Gender, Child and Social Welfare.

 

UNMISS Relief, Reintegration and Protection (RRP) Officer, Lauro Okello, said the forum was designed to encourage all partners to work together to ensure there is a timely and effective humanitarian response as well as longer-term development and recovery initiatives in place.

 

Forum participant, Professor Lodu Bureng, said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) should be signed to formalize, in a legal sense, the relationship between development partners and State ministries to ensure that development goals were reached in Jubek.