MUNDRI EAST – Schools, police stations, prisons, health facilities and bridges. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has funded numerous such infrastructure projects in Western Equatoria State, not least in its Greater Mundri area.

The latest addition to the impressive list is a recently inaugurated community peace centre in Kediba, the main town in Mundri East County.

“Our problems are over because now we have a place where we can gather and resolve our differences amicably,” said an upbeat Thomas Kebi Galiya, a local youth leader.

Robert Roba, representing the peacekeeping mission during the ceremony that saw the new structure being handed over to local authorities, explained the rationale behind the decision to pay for the building to be constructed.

“People living here faced difficulties in holding dialogues. We hope that this community peace centre will be helpful in building and maintaining peace among communities in Mundri East County by giving them a nice space where crucial talks can be held,” he said.

The centre will indeed mean that citizens won’t have to sit under suitable trees to discuss important matters, as Paramount Chief Benson Hakim pointed out. Instead, they can enjoy two offices and a spacious community hall in nice-looking, solar-powered premises.

The centre is part of the UN peacekeeping mission’s Quick Impact Project programme, which funds small-scale, low-cost initiatives that can be implemented swiftly. Among project proposals submitted by communities across the country, the ones that are deemed to improve the quality of life of all residents are given priority.

County Commissioner Margaret Fozia Emmanuel praised the community centre but was also keen to point out an older UNMISS-funded project in the area.

““Mundri East had no secondary school, but some time ago, a Quick Impact Project made it possible for girls and boys to attend high school here. Together with other pieces of infrastructure, these initiatives are contributing, significantly, to social cohesion in the county we call home,” she concluded.