Central Equatoria

The UN refugee agency has handed over a girls’ dormitory at Juba Orphanage to the Central Equatoria State today.

The building was officially handed over to Ministry of Gender and Social Development in the state.

The handover is part of the activities to mark the annual 16 days of activism against sexual and gender based violence.

The theme for campaign is “empowering women and girls in order to work together to address sexual and gender based violence.”

Cosmas Chanda is the UNHCR representative. He urged the ministry of Gender to maintain the newly built dormitory.

“The project has cost us 250, 000 US dollars which I understand is roughly 900 thousand south Sudanese Pounds. This is a contribution of UNHCR. Since you have made more contribution like UNHCR it is very, very important for you to ensure that this facility is maintained.” Chanda said.

The Minister of Information in Central Equatoria, David Lokonga said the land where the dormitory was constructed belongs to the orphans and should not be grabbed.

“This land here is meant for orphanage. It is not meant for anything else. Nobody should come to grab a piece of land. If somebody grabs a piece of land here we can hang him.” He said.

Juba Orphanage accommodates 78 orphans affected by the previous and recent civil wars in South Sudan and returnees children, out of whom 21 are girls and 57 are boys.