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Israeli aid in South Sudan greeted with joy

Some fifty townswomen in a remote community in South Sundan greeted an Israeli Foreign Ministry delegation with singing and dancing after it distributed 20 tons of food to refugees affected by the civil war plaguing the country.

A team from the Foreign Ministry headed by Ambassador to the South Sudan Hanan Godar distributed 20 tons of food to refugees affected by the civil war plaguing the country. In the remote town of Jebel Dinka, outside of Jouba, 50 townswomen greeted the Israeli delegation with singing and dancing.

South Sudan has been suffering in recent years from a severe humanitarian crisis caused by a combination of serious violence and climate change in the region. The country is now considered one of the world’s worst disaster areas. Two million of its citizens are defined as refugees (1 million internally displaced persons and 1 million refugees in neighboring countries).

Israel enlisted in a campaign to alleviate the suffering following an international appeal for urgent assistance. Each food package handed out by the delegation, headed by Ambassador to the South Sudan Hanan Godar, was divided into 100 kilograms of food for each family, and the food was distributed to the village women who are in the most acute nutritional distress. 

Goder also announced that the State of Israel will receive 60 students from southern Sudan for agricultural training in the coming year as part of the Israel Foreign Affairs Assistance Mission. The students will stay in Israel for year and will work for five days on farms and one day a week will study agriculture at Kinneret College.

Twenty students from South Sudan studied this year in Israel and the government has since decided to triple the number from the African country to be participate in the program.

Goder’s announcement was widely covered in the local media where Israel is viewed as a giant contributor in foreign aid and is advancing many building projects in South Sudan.

Read More: Y Net