UN pledges R20m to restore KZN
According to the KwaZulu-Natal government, the amount will be split across three main avenues: educational interventions, social cohesion dialogues and the support of gender-based violence shelters.
In an effort to rebuild and redevelop sectors of the economy, the United Nations has pledged R20m to the KwaZulu-Natal government after the unrest in July this year.
This includes R10m to support educational interventions, R7m for social cohesion dialogues and R2m to support gender-based violence shelters in the province.
Resident coordinator and the head of the United Nations in South Africa, Nardos Bhekele-Thomas, and the KZN provincial government’s Premier Sihle Zikalala, signed a memorandum of understanding at the Durban International Convention Center on Wednesday, September 22.
Zikalala said the partnership with the United Nations was critical to the provinces efforts to build an enduring peace and advance sustainable development.
“As we strengthen our law enforcement and put in place plans to mitigate future occurrences, we also agree that we need to get to the root causes of anti-social behavior in KwaZulu-Natal and, indeed, in our country,” said Zikalala.
He appreciates that the UN has pledged its support for the provincial government of KZN as this funding would help rebuild the affected communities and address the underlying causes of the complex developmental landscape in the province.
“On my part as co-chair of the provincial steering committee with the UN resident coordinator, I commit to ensure that the spirit and intent of the MoU is translated into tangible benefits that will promote sustainable development, heal our people, unite them and restore their dignity,” said Zikalala.
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