TİKA Supports Vocational Education in South Sudan

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) installed a solar power system and provided a sewing machine for Multi-Service Training Centre (MTC), the only state-owned vocational education institution in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

With the project, the Agency supplied solar power to the computer training laboratory at Multi-Service Training Centre, which is not connected to the electrical grid. As part of the project, 10 solar panels, 8 solar batteries, an inverter and charge controller, and a single-phase commutator were provided for the computer laboratory at Multi-Service Training Centre. The project also focused on the tailoring courses held at the Centre. While the Centre did not have sufficient number of sewing machines to hold training courses before, it now aims to relaunch its tailoring training courses, especially for women, with 20 sewing machines provided by TİKA.

In his speech at the opening ceremony held for the project, Martin Lugala Tumba, Director of Multi-Service Training Centre, thanked the Republic of Türkiye for its support, stating that the project solved the power problem in the computer training lab. Tumba noted that the center was not connected to the electrical grid, and that thanks to TİKA’s support, trainees would be able to attend various computer training courses. Expressing his gratitude for the support provided for tailoring, the director of the center said, “I hope that this project will be a good start.”

In his speech at the ceremony, Modi John Molla, Minister of Labor, Public Service, and Human Resource Development of the State of Central Equatoria in South Sudan, thanked the Republic of Türkiye and TİKA on behalf of the Ministry, and said that the project would contribute to the acquisition of computer and tailoring skills and the development of the relevant industries. Molla noted that there were other training centers owned by the Ministry of Labor, Public Service, and Human Resource Development of the State of Central Equatoria, and that they would be pleased with any support to be provided for these centers. 

Andruga Mabe Saverio, Minister of Information and Communication of the State of Central Equatoria in South Sudan, stated that Türkiye has been active in Sudan and South Sudan for 200 years. He added that they considered Turkish Ambassador Erdem Mutaf “not as a diplomat, but as a friend and brother.” The Minister urged the administration of Multi-Service Training Centre to make an effort to ensure that trainees use the skills they acquired. He said, “I would like to thank the Republic of Türkiye for their good activities in our country.”

In his speech, Erdem Mutaf, the Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Juba, noted that TİKA and the Turkish Red Crescent have opened projects in several fields in South Sudan for the past three weeks, and that they would implement another project next week. Mutaf stressed the key importance of vocational education in the acquisition of technical skills, and stated that TİKA’s project would create new employment opportunities for South Sudanese young people. The Ambassador added that Türkiye is a sincere friend of South Sudan, and said, “We will continue to support and help the people of South Sudan.”

In her speech at the ceremony, Mary Hillary Wani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labor, Public Service, and Human Resource Development of South Sudan, said, “I am honored to attend the opening ceremony of this project. The support provided for vocational education centers, where the majority of the trainees are young, is of great importance since young people make up more than 70 percent of our country’s total population.” Undersecretary Wani thanked TİKA, stating that she had attended the opening ceremony of the project implemented by TİKA for St. Vincent Vocational Training Center a few years ago and that she still remembered the project. The Undersecretary stressed that Türkiye and South Sudan had a common history, that the majority of textiles in their country were imported from Türkiye, and that they would be pleased with any support provided for the construction of a production plant in the country.