{"id":40131,"date":"2025-10-01T12:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T10:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=40131"},"modified":"2025-10-01T12:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T10:37:08","slug":"children-demand-health-first-as-right2grow-project-closes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/children-demand-health-first-as-right2grow-project-closes\/","title":{"rendered":"Children demand health first as Right2Grow project closes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alan Clement<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

South Sudan\u2019s children have called for health and nutrition to be placed at the center of national development as the five-year Right2Grow (R2G) project came to a close.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the close-out event, Naomi Momone, Speaker of the Children\u2019s Parliament, underscored the urgency of prioritizing child health warning that no other rights can be realized without a healthy start in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth comes first, regardless of any other right of the children. Without good health, we cannot go to school, we cannot get all of the other rights. Through this program, Right2Grow has enabled children to access good health and good nutrition,\u201d Naomi said<\/p>\n

Launched in 2021 and funded by the Government of the Netherlands, the R2G program was implemented by a consortium led by Save the Children in partnership with Action Against Hunger, World Vision, Child Rights Coalition, and UNIDOR.<\/p>\n

The project successfully launched South Sudan\u2019s first-ever National Nutrition Policy (2024\u20132034) and also the establishment of a Parliamentary Caucus on WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene).<\/p>\n

In a show of solidarity, Samuel Loti, Member of Parliament in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), pledged that lawmakers will prioritize children\u2019s concerns in national policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to tell you this. With all your aspirations, rest assured that your brothers in parliament will do everything to ensure your future is secured. Much as there are major challenges in this country, we will do everything to support you. Every document that reaches us, we shall push it forward. We have started with gender-sensitive budgeting, now we are moving to children-sensitive budgeting,\u201d Loti stressed.<\/p>\n

International partners also framed South Sudan\u2019s efforts within a broader global push. Laurence Caron, Global Manager of Right2Grow at Save the Children Netherlands, highlighted successes in Mali, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Uganda, urging South Sudan to sustain the momentum and urged South Sudanese leaders to keep children at the center of governance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they don\u2019t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair. I hope this turns into a movement that continues to bring communities and local voices to the forefront,\u201d Caron said during the event.<\/p>\n

For Save the Children, the end of R2G is not a conclusion but a new beginning. Country Director Christopher Nyamandi described the initiative as the planting of seeds; seeds that must now be nurtured. \u201cThe chapter may close today, but the story of children in South Sudan is still being written,\u201d Nyamandi said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alan Clement South Sudan\u2019s children have called for health and nutrition to be placed at the center of national development as the five-year Right2Grow (R2G) project came to a close. Speaking at the close-out event, Naomi Momone, Speaker of the Children\u2019s Parliament, underscored the urgency of prioritizing child health[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":40132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Children.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40133,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40131\/revisions\/40133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}