Seven new public servants from Kenya have arrived in Juba to begin their assignments as civil service support officers (CSSOs).

This is part of the IGAD regional initiative for capacity enhancement in South Sudan.

The new arrivals are joining two Ugandan, who reported to Juba in May 2016, for a 2-week induction workshop into the South Sudan-IGAD program.

“Your presence here demonstrates your firm resolve, commitment and determination to support South Sudan in its journey of state-building and nation-building, peace and development,” said Awut Deng, acting labor minister, in her welcome remarks at the induction workshop on Tuesday.

“As a government, we are very grateful to your continued support to contribute towards the enhancement and development of the civil service in South Sudan.”

After completing a 2-week orientation, the new public servants, who arrived in Juba on Sunday, will deploy to critical posts in Juba, the former Western Equatoria areas, Aweil, and Kuajok, according to a press statement issued by UNDP.

They will lend their expertise in health, human resource management, aviation, database management, public financial management, and management analysis.

Through bilateral agreements, the IGAD regional countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, since 2011, have sent highly experienced and committed CSSOs to South Sudan where they are paired with counterparts known as “twins”.

They are dispatched across a range of ministries and sectors throughout the country to rapidly develop core government capacity at the national and subnational levels in a coaching and mentoring scheme for a 2-year period.

Over 1,000 South Sudanese civil servants at the national and state levels have benefitted so far.

The Norwegian government is the sole donor of the project and UNDP provides technical support to this initiative.

The Ministry of Labor, Public Service and Human Resource Development plays a key role in directing the implementation of the project.

“This is a very unique South to South and Triangular cooperation undertaking, described at the highest levels of the United Nations and among development partners as an innovative model in post-conflict civil service capacity development,” said Andrew Shuruma, Democratic Governance and Stabilization Unit Team Leader.