The government of Northern Bahr el Ghazal is to hand over land to 900 returnees. The State has set aside 9,800 plots in Aweil town, each measuring 600 square metres for the returnees. The first 900 plots have been allocated through a lottery process. The plots are provided with public utilities and sanitation facilities. The land is expected to be handed to the recipients in Aweil town on Thursday. The land distribution program has been coordinated by the government of Northern Bahr el Ghazel State in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program and the United States Agency for International Development – USAID. The program aims to address the problem of land shortages following the influx of returnees from Khartoum.