Man listening to the radio (Photo: Internews).

The United States government has announced three-year financial assistance of $12 million for independent media in South Sudan.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) said in a statement that it signed the $12 million agreement to continue Washington’s longstanding support for independent media in the country.

USAID said the new initiative, the Sustainable Independent Media Activity, will improve access to credible, accurate, and reliable information for South Sudanese citizens by promoting the sustainability of high-quality, independent radio operations.

The program will be implemented by subcontractor IREX and other partners.

The finance is intended to help provide citizens with a platform to encourage a more responsive government by improving access to credible, accurate, and reliable information.

Other aims of the U.S support are also to financial, institutional, and social sustainability; and investing in high-quality, credible journalism.

The SIMA initiative will build on the accomplishments of i-STREAM, a 2013-2016 project of USAID and Internews, which built sustainable independent radio and improved media content and professionalism of community radio stations.