Regional Co-Operation: IGAD Seconds Mentors To South Sudan

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has seconded a group of senior civil servants to support South Sudan’s infant government.

The 93 senior civil servants from Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya will assist in boosting the capacity of their South Sudanese counterparts at both national and state government levels.

“They are coming here to boost and build our capacity on areas of financial management, clerical sections and administration among others”, acting South Sudanese Deputy Minister of Public Service Daniel Kong told the press while receiving the mentors at Juba International Airport yesterday.

He said inadequate skilled personnel remains a key challenge in the infant nation which attained its independence four months ago.

He commended efforts by regional economic bodies, specifically IGAD, and reiterated South Sudan’s continuous cooperation with the organisation.

The programme is supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) under its capacity building support component.

The Resident UNDP Representative Lise Grande said the programme aims at “building the organisational system of government and create an environment where policy can be effectively implemented”.

“UNDP is looking at bringing back home South Sudanese experts who were displaced during the civil war to be incorporated into the different government institutions as an attempt to address the challenge of unskilled labour”, she said.

The 93 mentors is the second batch of the 200 IGAD mentors sent to South Sudan after 45 mentors from Kenya were sent into the country before the proclamation of South Sudan’s independence.