Day: October 19, 2022

A thick sweat forms lines on Magret Achi’s face as she moves about her small shop made of iron sheeting in the village of Kormus, in South Sudan’s southeast Torit County.

Customers gather round, waiting to buy the basic, but necessary, commodities stocked inside. It’s difficult to imagine that not long ago the shelves were almost bare and customers rare.

“My shop was on the verge of collapse,” says the 40-year-old mother of eight. “I could not bring new stock in time because the road was bad.”

South Sudan is the world’s youngest country. It’s also among the least developed, with only a budding road network throughout. There are 20,000 kilometres of roads in the country, but only 400 are paved.

During the rainy season, the majority of the roads, especially in rural areas, are completely inaccessible. According to the World Bank, more than three-quarters of the country’s population lives outside urban centres, and the lack of roads poses significant challenges.

With no roads out of or around towns, children struggle to get to school and women are at higher risk of dying during childbirth. If there’s an emergency, it is more difficult for people to flee and for help to arrive.

In places like Kormus, it also means food cannot get in and out of the villages in the quantities needed for the local population, reducing peoples’ access to adequate food and livelihood options.

But new opportunities are opening up, with the recent completion of a 48 km road running through the village. Constructed by the World Food Programme (WFP), with financial support from the Netherlands, it is part of a broader WFP infrastructure initiative that supports communities in building or repairing roads, dykes and bridges across the country.

“In a country where isolation and access are a challenge, constructing roads is one way of changing lives,” says Adeyinka Badejo WFP’s Acting Country Director in South Sudan. “By constructing roads, we are fighting food insecurity, restoring livelihoods and promoting socio-economic development.”

New connections

In Kormus, shop owner Magret has seen a 50 percent boost in revenue, thanks to more goods now being trucked in to stock her shelves—and more customers from nearby villages and farms coming to buy them.

The road has also connected more than 5,000 smallholder farmers to the state’s main market in the southeastern town of Torit and beyond, giving them an incentive to increase their output and sell their surplus.

“I have been cultivating a small portion of my big land just to provide food for my family,” says one Kormus-area grower, Peter Okuye. “But now I will produce more, because I can sell it in the market in Torit and even Juba,” the country’s capital.

WFP has been expanding road construction in communities with the potential to produce their own food and sell their surplus, if current infrastructure obstacles are addressed. In Western Bahr el Ghazal state, in the country’s northwest, local communities are helping to construct a small network of roads, funded by the European Union.

Participants receive tools, training, food assistance and a daily allowance as they work on the projects.

“I’m very excited about it, we finally have an opportunity to construct roads and connect the villages,” says Santo Mawien, a local youth representative who participates in the roadworks. “I’m sure this project will change the life of the community and the people working on it.”

These construction projects are providing more than just immediate opportunities to earn a living. Indeed, as the Western Bahr el Ghazal roadworks near completion, the community is planning for the future.

“With the money I will get from this project, I will open a small restaurant in the market,” says 35-year-old Achalla Uguak, a farmer and mother of five. “If the restaurant works well, I will send my children to study at Wau (a nearby urban centre) where the education is better, and I will improve my house.”

Source: World Food Programme

PRETORIA, President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed South Africa’s support for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, commonly referred to as Western Sahara, which has endured a long territorial dispute between Morocco and its indigenous Sahrawi people.

“Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara remains a matter of concern to both Africa and the international community,” the President told media on Tuesday.

This year marks the 46th anniversary of the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco.

Ramaphosa believes that the international community should be pressured so that the long-delayed referendum on the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara is held.

According to France24, Morocco controls 80% of the vast desert region, rich in phosphates and with a long Atlantic coast abutting rich fishing waters.

“Until the people of Western Sahara are able to exercise their right to self-determination, the decolonisation of Africa will be incomplete,” said Ramaphosa, who hosted his Western Sahara counterpart, President Brahim Ghali, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

The State Visit was aimed at strengthening the already existing good political relations fortified by the strong historical ties dating back from the years of the struggle against colonialism and apartheid.

“As a country whose freedom was attained with the assistance of international support and solidarity, South Africa stands with the Sahrawi people in their struggle against illegal occupation.”

He told media that the country will continue to maintain strong bilateral relations with the Western Sahara, which South Africa formally recognised on Sept 15, 2004.

“South Africa has continued to reiterate its principled position in support of the peace efforts of the African Union and the United Nations on the protracted Western Sahara conflict.”

He also recalled that on March 26, 2019, South Africa hosted the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Solidarity Conference with Western Sahara.

“The conference reflected on the Southern African countries’ support by friends in the international community, [for] a just, acceptable and lasting solution to the situation.”

The State Visit, according to the President, should send a strong signal that South Africa will continue to strive for the self-determination of the Sahrawi people and that the country’s position remains unchanged and resolute.

The President said the visit has helped strengthen and consolidate the fraternal relations between the two countries.

“It has provided an opportunity to exchange views on recent developments related to the question of Western Sahara.”

He said the country will continue to mobilise regional, continental and international support towards a sustainable resolution to the Western Sahara conflict, in line with the provisions of the 1991 Ceasefire Agreement.

“We reiterate the need to return to direct dialogue between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front without preconditions,” he stressed, adding that South Africa will continue to advocate for the active participation of African countries in the resolution of the issue of Western Sahara.

“We call on the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the Kingdom of Morocco – as the Member States of the African Union – to prepare conditions for a new ceasefire and a just and durable solution to the conflict.”

Africa, according to the President, must remain true to the Constitutive Act of the African Union (UN).

“As the international community, we must affirm the principles of the United Nations Charter, uphold international law and implement the resolutions of the UN Security Council.”

He thanked the President for the fruitful discussions and assured him of the continued support for the struggle of the people of Western Sahara.

Source: Nam News Network