A lot has happened this year. While we continued to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, we were hit by disease outbreaks and humanitarian crises. Yet, despite these challenges, we marched on, resolute in resolving critical health systems issues to increase access to quality healthcare services. To further our vision and bring concrete actions to reality, under the leadership of the Government of South Sudan, we developed the Health Sector Strategic Plan to define the strategic approaches, key interventions, mapping resource needs, and the implementation framework to strengthen the health system to deliver essential quality health services equitably for 2023 to 2027. For WHO, this Plan will usher in a new reality -- access to lifesaving or health-promoting interventions is doable and possible, making the health sector fairer, especially for those unable to pay