The Vatican has announced that it is donating about $515,000 towards aid projects in South Sudan, AFP news agency reports.

The move comes after Pope Francis dropped plans to visit South Sudan because of security fears in a country hit by myriad conflicts since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

The $515,000 would be spent on two hospitals run by nuns, a teacher training programme and a project to buy seeds and tools for some 2,500 farming families.

At a press conference at the Vatican, Ghana’s Bishop Peter Turkson said the aid was a “concrete sign” of the pontiff’s closeness to the people of South Sudan. (NAN)