Ms Niamh Cooper:

I want to share a couple of stories from the people. We have been sharing big figures and numbers in the millions, and sometimes humans get lost in that. The boy pictured in slide 12 is called Geoffrey. He witnessed his parents being killed. He is now attending school in Juba, which is supported by World Vision. Considering what he has been through, he is exceptionally positive. He has been through what we could never imagine but he hopes for his future. When one asks him and nearly everybody what they want or what is most important to them, the answer is peace. They just want peace. Geoffrey is focused on his education. He want to be a doctor and he wants peace.

Slide 13 shows a baby who is in one of the nutrition centres. The baby was much more unhealthy a few weeks earlier but his mother received nutritional support to enable her to breast-feed him and help him to be much healthier.

Slide 14 shows an amazing woman who was part of our cash programming. We have a programme in which we give people $40 a month for six months, along with training on how to set up a business, create small kitchen gardens and so forth. She had a stall in the market where she sold peanut paste and she had managed to start saving a large part of the $40 she received each month. She has started to put her three children through school and she says one child will be a pilot, a second will be a pastor and the third will be a doctor. She was already planning on expanding her business before the six months had elapsed. This shows the resilience of these people. They are amazing. They have been through hell but they are not giving up. They are powerful. They just want peace and they deserve peace and a future. I call on the Government to do all it can to help bring about peace in South Sudan. Ireland is highly respected internationally in this area.

What is needed now? Funding is obviously needed and we are exceptionally grateful for the funding that Irish Aid has given already. The recent funding announcement is very welcome, but we will always ask for more because much more is needed. As I said, conflict resolution is vital. Nothing can happen and we cannot move forward until there is peace in South Sudan. There are so many possibilities for these amazing people who, like everybody else, including our own children, deserve peace and opportunities. Please God there will be peace.

After conflict, we will need to focus on long-term development and helping people to get back on their feet. Let us not forget what these children have witnessed. While they are smiling now, there is no doubt they will need psychological and psychosocial support to deal with what they have experienced and move forward.