Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A disability and inclusion specialist at Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) is calling on parents and guardians to send children with special needs to school.
Lily Riko says more than 20,000 children with disabilities are currently enrolled in schools across the country, but many more are still at home and should be given the chance to learn.
She says learners with disabilities from Primary 7 to Senior 4 are eligible to receive cash transfers once they are in school.
“We encourage that public and the communities out there support your children who are having difficulties or learners with disabilities to come to school regularly,” she said.
Meanwhile, David Malish, the Regional Field Monitoring Officer at GESS, urged members of the public to report any misuse of the cash transfer funds.
He said the validation exercise is currently taking place across the country to confirm which learners qualify for the next round of cash transfers.
To be validated, schools must provide accurate records showing confirmed attendance and Term One exam results.
“As the validation moves on, I encourage people to report issues that may come around, for example, misappropriation among other things. And as they do the reporting, we have some telephone numbers,” he said.
“We have two numbers, actually. There is MTN number and Zain number. The MTN number is +211-928-520-824 and it is also used on WhatsApp. Then the Zain number is +211-917-647-891,” he said.
GESS is a multi-donor program supported by the UK, Canada, the EU, the US, and Sweden.
Since 2014, the cash transfers have helped address challenges like poverty and early or forced marriage that prevent girls from completing their education.
More than one million girls have received the support, and as of 2024, boys with disabilities are also benefiting from the initiative.
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