By Kitab Unango
South Sudan’s youths have called for transparency in the management of the $3 million peace fund provided by the United Nations.
The two- year Peace-building fund meant to encourage young women and men to participate in the ongoing peace process was launched on Wednesday in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
“We would like to see that the youth at the grassroots benefit and the aspect of corruption is avoided,” Oye ga Innocent Juma, a youth working for UN Youth South Sudan told Juba Echo on Thursday.
Augustino Deng Alier, Chairperson of South Sudan Coalition on Youth Peace and Security, said the project could easily fail to deliver on it’s aspirations if youth are sidelined in the implementation phase.
“It is really important that youth have ownership of this project and to see that the process of localization of resolution 2250 on Youth Peace and Security is achieved,” he said.
Deng emphasized the importance of transparency and accountability when it comes to release of the money.
The UN peace-building fund spells out that 40 per cent of the money should be implemented by youth- led organizations and associations in order to reach out to youth at grassroots level across the country.