U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan Michael J. Adler and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director for South Sudan David Thompson met on October 17 with 32 partners who implement USAID’s humanitarian and development assistance in South Sudan. Ambassador Adler and Mission Director Thompson thanked them for their essential work supporting the South Sudanese people and discussed assistance coordination in South Sudan’s challenging humanitarian, security, and economic context.

The U.S. government is the largest provider of assistance to the people of South Sudan, contributing over $700 million in life-saving humanitarian assistance during the past year to help people in need, amid worsening seasonal flooding, the arrival of more than 800,000 returnees and refugees fleeing war in Sudan, and other shocks driving humanitarian needs. USAID also provided $55 million over the past year in development assistance toward democracy and governance, education and youth, economic growth, and health.

Ambassador Adler told the implementing partners that the transitional government has failed to create conditions for the United States or others to responsibly invest in traditional development programs in South Sudan, let alone demonstrate its commitment to building a better future for the South Sudanese people. The Ambassador called upon the transitional government to transparently account for public revenue and invest public resources in the country’s development.

Mission Director Thompson, who began his tenure as head of USAID operations in South Sudan on October 3, told USAID partners: “The American people and USAID have long understood and supported the aspirations of the South Sudanese people for peace, freedom, and development to reach their potential as a young nation. We share the South Sudanese people’s disappointment that the years since independence have not provided the peace, opportunities, equity, and inclusion they long struggled for.”