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South Sudan has been facing the consequences of the climate emergency through unpredictable weather patterns more intense and erratic rainfall leading to frequent floods. Since 2019, flash flood has been recurring and is increasing in magnitude and intensity, affecting both pastoralists and crop farmer communities across South Sudan. As a least developed country, with amongst the poorest and most vulnerable populations, the country has endured years of external and internal crisis that led to massive displacement and substantial destruction of livelihoods, houses, access road, and discusses outbreak, etc. The resilience of people to shocks and stresses has been eroded, requiring urgent humanitarian assistance. With 51% of the population living the below poverty line, South Sudan is characterized with slow social and economic development and high vulnerability to climate induced disasters.
In 2021, South Sudan experienced unusually heavy rainfall and the worst flooding in 60 years, affecting an estimated 908K people. Flooding affected the 10 states and resulted to about 103,000 hectares of cultivated land to be damaged with an estimated loss of 97,000 tons of grain. By May 2021[1], the governance cluster of the R-TGoNU chaired by the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, declared the flooding across the country as a national emergency and formed a ministerial committee to address the disaster. Approximately 77% of those affected came from the states of Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile State, destroying homes and agricultural fields and forcing families and livestock to relocate to higher grounds and find shelter in churches, schools and public spaces.
The national Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management is the mandated institution to address disaster management, preparedness, and response and recovery. The Ministry works closely with a number of government counterparts, UN agencies and development partners, including the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), OCHA, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), state authorities, and communities. However, given the huge challenges and competing priorities within Government, edffective and efficient emergency response and coordination and early warning is hampered by the absence of National and State Contingency/Response Plans, weak coordination structures, and limited communication. The Government of South Sudan, through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management (MHADM), requested for UNDP support toward strengthening the coordination and communication with regards to the recovery effort from the flooding and the management of flood risk, as well as, supporting the establishment of a robust early warning and early action mechanism
[1] https://eyeradio.org/govt-declares-nationwide-flooding-a-national-disaster/
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