10 February 2014 - South Sudanese President Salva Kiir’s office today donated 250,000 South Sudanese pounds (about $79,000) to support children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS in the country.

According to 2012 UNAIDS estimates, more than 150,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in South Sudan and over 1,000 children aged 0-17 have been orphaned from the disease.

The money, expected to help children pay for school uniforms, meals, medicine, and school fees, is part of the government commitment to fight HIV/AIDS in South Sudan.

Lolela Ila Lole, Chairperson of South Sudan Network of People Living with HIV, said the organization had lists of all orphaned children in the country and was tracing those in Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states who had been displaced by violence.

Conflict broke out in Juba on 15 December between government and opposition forces and rapidly spread to several other South Sudanese states.

John Edward, Chairperson of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) Association in Central Equatoria State, praised the government for its support to people living with HIV/AIDS, including SPLA soldiers. “In South Sudan, since I started taking my … treatment, there has been no any shortage of the drugs,” he said.

South Sudan HIV/AIDS Commission Chairperson Dr. Eserino Novelo said the money would be distributed through various HIV associations in the country, callling on the HIV network to speed up formation of these groups in states where they did not exist.