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Drafting with a difference: Kapoeta development organizations learn to write proposals too good to refuse

Development organizations around the globe are used to the fierce competition for funding for development initiatives. But how exactly does one make a project proposal stand out among a thousand others? In Kapoeta, in eastern South Sudan, local good samaritans have recently been taught these all-important tricks of the non-profit trade.

Lochai Jackson Peter, a food security monitor for the Organization for Peace, Relief and Development and one of some 50 enlightened participants in the training organized by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, grabbed the opportunity with both hands. At the end of the course, he feels inspired to move forward with his project idea for a water system to benefit his community.

“I think it [the training] will have a great impact because now I am able to write a good proposal. I have really been able to get the skills to do this,” says Mr. Peter.

He and other representatives of civil society organizations in the Kapoeta area pledged to make the most of the knowledge of the nitty-gritty of designing, developing and implementing projects locally, including the often daunting tasks of proposal writing and budgeting.

The workshop, organized and conducted by the peacekeeping mission’s Relief, Reintegration and Protection section, was not only the first of its kind in Kapoeta but also the first ever meaningful training opportunity for many, according to a majority of the participants.

Imelda Paul, a field monitor for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency South Sudan, remarked that the workshop strengthened her ability to address pressing issues in her community.  

“There’s still a lot to be done, but now we can formulate proposals that can help us tackle the situation we are in, and that will help improve the community,” she commented.

Apart from providing leaders of community based organizations with the tools for successful proposal writing, UNMISS is also offering opportunities to put these new skills into practice. Training participants were encouraged to submit their project ideas to be considered as some of the Quick Impact Projects that are regularly funded by UNMISS across the country.