US Ambassador to South Sudan, Thomas Hushek speaks on Eye Radio, February 2019 | Joakino Francis

The US ambassador to South Sudan says his country will continue to support youth especially women and girls in capacity building.

Thomas Hushek says young women in South Sudan have equal opportunities to the ongoing US exchange programs as their male counterparts.

The US diplomat spoke during an exclusive interview on Eye Radio’s Dawn show when he emphasized on the need to empower women in the country.  “A lot of those are women and we hope to keep those programs going,” Hushek said.

He says South Sudan cannot experience economic development if women are not given equal access to education.

“I don’t think we will see South Sudan able to develop economically without really involving its women citizens. Women’s development here equals South Sudanese development,” he said.

Ambassador Huskek pointed out that South Sudan government does not allocate sufficient budget to meet the needs of  the education sector.

“South Sudan has the lowest literacy rate in the world, and yet the governments’ own budget is not quite meeting the standard target for investing in education,”he said.

According to previous assessments, over 70% of the population in South Sudan is said to be illiterate.