Schoolgirls in South Sudan | Credit | Girls Education South Sudan/GESS

Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) has officially begun its 2025 round of cash transfers to girls and boys with disabilities across the country, with payments starting on Tuesday, 22nd October and expected to continue until 21st November.

The initiative aims to encourage school attendance and retention among some of South Sudan’s most vulnerable learners, especially girls in upper primary and secondary school, as well as boys with disabilities.

According to GESS, the cash transfers are targeted at girls in Primary 7 to Secondary 4, learners in Level 4 of the Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP), and boys with disabilities enrolled in those same levels.

Beneficiaries in candidate classes—Primary 8, Secondary 4, and ALP Level 4—will receive SSP 166,000, while learners in other eligible classes will receive SSP 129,000.

Daniel Geseka, Team Leader at GESS, confirmed the rollout during an interview on Eye Radio’s Daw Show.

“Officially, the payment begins today across the country, today the 22nd,” said Geseka.

“There is logistics involved in terms of moving and communication and all that. But one of the things where we come today is to announce that payment has started, and learners should be expecting payments from today onwards.”

Geseka also pointed to the urgency of disbursing the funds before schools close or national examinations begin in early December.

“We still have very low enrolment of learners with disability,” he added.

“That’s why we extended it to boys as well, because they are also disadvantaged. We still go out there and say we have more children with disability who are not even in school. We thank our partners and donors for their continued support, and we hope that, with time, the numbers will improve the way it has improved for girls.”

The cash transfers are part of GESS’s broader effort to eliminate the financial and societal barriers that prevent girls and children with disabilities from accessing education.

Since 2014, over one million girls have benefited from the program, which seeks to reduce dropouts linked to poverty, early marriage, and cultural biases against female education.

David Musisi, Deputy Team Leader for Essential Services at the British Embassy in Juba, reaffirmed donor commitment to the program.

“The amount will support children to go to school—to buy scholastic materials, to buy school uniforms, to do the things they need to do in order to facilitate that journey every day to school and achieve their qualifications,” said Musisi.

“We’ve seen donors move out of South Sudan. We’ve seen programs be cut or changed. Because it’s so imperative that girls finish their education, we are targeting those top classes to ensure that education is completed. This program has achieved a lot in 10 years, and we will continue to strive for equitable, quality education in South Sudan.”

While floods and ongoing insecurity remain a challenge for distribution in some areas, GESS says it is coordinating closely with partners on the ground to ensure that eligible learners receive their payments.

The inclusion of boys with disabilities, first introduced in 2024, marks a significant expansion of the program’s reach, acknowledging the double marginalization faced by learners living with disabilities in South Sudan.