South Sudan in dialogue with international community on accountability and transparency
June 7, 2012 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s new Joint Government-Donor Roundtable fourm was formed this week to facilitate discussions on issues including austerity measures, service delivery, development, transparency and accountability.
South Sudan’s government and partners from the international community have entered into a dialogue to address the developmental needs and issues of accountability and transparency in the new country.
The meeting took place on Wednesday under the chairmanship of vice president Riek Machar.
Since the decision to shut down the oil production in January, it has become clear that there is an urgent need to improve the lines of communications between the government and the international community.
The forum which will meet once a month will discuss priorities and sequence key decisions by the government and the donor community.
Ambassadors accredited to Juba by their respective countries, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and UN agencies are part of the dialogue.
However, the government has expressed concern over what it sees as a parallel system run by the international development partners without aligning to the priorities of the government.
Officials say international partners, through their NGOs, tend to finance and implement their own projects in South Sudan, giving the government’s agendas less priority.
(ST)