TİKA Built a Workshop for Mask Production in South Sudan

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) built a sewing workshop in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, to combat the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19). 15,000 masks will be produced in the workshop at the first stage.

In Juba, the capital of South Sudan, the youngest country in Africa, TİKA built a sewing workshop with two classrooms for the Saint Vincent de Paul Society in order to combat COVID-19 and support women’s employment. TİKA also provided 30 electric sewing machines and 2,000 meters of fabric to be used in the production of 15,000 washable and reusable masks.

The sewing workshop was inaugurated with a ceremony attended by the Republic of Turkey’s Ambassador to Juba Tuğrul Biltekin, Minister of Labor of South Sudan James Hoth Mai, TİKA’s Assistant Program Coordinator of Juba Turgut Gazigil, and representatives of NGOs.

At the ceremony, Ambassador Biltekin said, “This sewing workshop is the latest link in the chain of assistance projects we have implemented during the pandemic. We have close relations with the government of South Sudan and have been carrying out short- and long-term projects in line with the list of needs given by them in the early days of the pandemic. While this sewing workshop is important in combating the pandemic in the short term, it will also provide significant benefits in the long term, especially in terms of women’s employment.”

Minister of Labor of South Sudan James Hoth Mai stated that the workshop built by TİKA was an important step for women’s employment, and expressed his satisfaction with the support provided by Turkey for the fight against Covid-19 in particular.