South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
The Minister of Finance and Planning, Marial Dongrin Ater, on Thursday commended the technical and financial support provided to the government by the United Nations Development programme (UNDP) and other development agencies.
“Our partnership with UNDP and other development agencies remains invaluable. However, the way forward must increasingly focus on empowering our institutions to operate effectively over the long term,” said Ater during the evaluation of the 2025-2026 Country program document at Radisson Blu hotel in Juba.
Ater emphasized the need to harness external expertise not as a substitute for local leadership but as a catalyst for building robust, up-grown systems capable of sustaining development in the face of shifting donor priorities.
“At the same time, we recognize that the current challenges hold for a new commitment to investing in our own capacities and creating a sustainable development model that truly reflects the aspirations of our people,” he said.
Mohamed Abchir, UNDP Country Resident Representative said the country programme document is a collective framework that contains the vision they seek to collectively achieve in South Sudan.
“The UNDP country programme document, serves as the primary accountability framework and roadmap, ensuring that the efforts of UNDP are effectively aligned with the priorities of the government of South Sudan,” said Abchir.
Abchir also said that the UNDP country program document is a result of intensive consultation with government at the national and state level, donors and development partners, NGOs, and other stakeholders.
He noted that the document supports the implementation of the revised National Development Strategy and other national development frameworks.
“The annual review is an important moment in our journey towards supporting sustainable and inclusive development in South Sudan, as we jointly assess our progress, reflect on the challenges, and identify key strategic interventions required to progressively achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for the benefit of the people of this beautiful country,” said Abchir.
He noted that the annual review meeting reflects on the progress made in the implementation of the CPD for 2023-2025, a strategic framework that guides the UNDP intervention in alignment with the country’s Revised National Development Strategy which is now extended to 2026.
