LocationsMOH, UNDP on Benchmarking Visit to Uganda to Improve South Sudan’s Supply Chain System
July 10, 2025
Learning from the best: South Sudan delegation with the leadership of Uganda’s National Medical Stores
A delegation from the Ministry of Health, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNICEF held a successful benchmarking visit to Uganda’s National Medical Stores (NMS) and National Drug Authority (NDA) to study the nation’s health supply chain system. The goal was to identify best practices and opportunities for collaboration and inform ongoing efforts to improve South Sudan’s supply chain infrastructure.
This follows the offer of $2.6 million by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to support strategic investments in supply chain strengthening and vaccine management with a focus on establishing new cold-chain installations, warehouse expansion at Gumbo and Konyokonyo Medical Warehouses and other infrastructure improvements. Through this visit held from 30 June to 2 July 2025, the delegation identified aspects that can be tailored to suit the South Sudan context, including design, capacity and electrical needs.
This visit was in response to a recommendation from the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance Mission to South Sudan, which advised that the cold-chain facility at Riverside Warehouse, Gumbo under the Gavi grant for Supply Chain Systems Strengthening should mirror the model implemented at Kajjansi, a star project co-funded by the Ugandan Ministry of Health, the Global Fund and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Inside the National Medical Stores – a storage facility for essential medicines and medical supplies for public health facilities in Uganda.
Background
In June 2024, the Ministry of Health, South Sudan AIDS Commission, the Global Fund, Gavi, the vaccine Alliance and UNDP signed the ‘Declaration of Commitment and Joint Collaboration to Continue Fighting HIV, TB and Malaria, and Strengthen Immunization and Health Systems’.
This declaration reaffirmed the importance of the Global Fund and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance partnership with South Sudan, combining the strength of government, civil society, private sector and people affected by HIV, TB and malaria, low vaccine coverage and weak health systems.
New perspectives gained at Uganda’s National Drug Authority
Following this declaration, the Ministry of Health, working with partners, submitted a proposal for the Joint Global Fund/Gavi Investment in Supply Chain Strengthening in February 2025. In May 2025, UNDP signed an agreement with Gavi for $2.6 million to support the one-year grant ending in June 2026. This support includes technical assistance to optimize the storage and distribution capacity for health commodities in South Sudan.