Humanitarian Coordinator visits flood-affected people and appeals for urgent funding to meet rising needs

(Juba, 24 September 2020) The Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Alain Noudéhou, today concluded a visit to Duk County in Jonglei and Panyijiar County in Unity where he met with people affected by flooding. He was joined by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, heads of UN agencies and directors of NGOs operating in the areas.

“Vast areas of the country along the River Nile are now under water. More than 600,000 people have been affected since July in Jonglei, Lakes, Unity, Upper Nile, and Central and Western Equatoria. Entire communities have fled to higher ground to escape the rising waters. The number of people affected will continue to grow in the coming weeks, and many women and children who had earlier been displaced by sub-national violence are now displaced again,” said Mr. Noudéhou.

Humanitarian actors are working to scale up the response by providing food, temporary shelter, fishing kits, water purification tablets, medicine and other supplies, with a focus on people and areas that are most affected. In some communities, support is also being planned to rehabilitate disaster mitigation infrastructure such as dykes to complement the emergency response and to prevent more people for being displaced by the floods.

“The people I met today are doing their best to stay dry and meet their livelihood needs. Their resilience is seriously being tested as they have to deal with one shock after another. This is making it increasingly difficult for the affected communities to cope. Timely and sustained humanitarian assistance is urgently needed,” the Humanitarian Coordinator added.

More than US$80 million is needed for the overall flood response, including $46 million for immediate assistance to 360,000 people until the end of the year. Mr. Noudéhou said: “I am releasing $10 million from the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund for the flood response. I thank the donor community for its generous contribution to the overall humanitarian situation in South Sudan and call for more funding to respond to the immediate and urgent needs created by the floods.”

In addition to the immediate relief, further investment is needed in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation to avoid a repeat of the same crisis year after year. “We need to work together with affected people and local governments to rehabilitate relevant local infrastructure to help prepare communities to better cope with recurring shocks.,” the Humanitarian Coordinator stressed.

Note to editors

Since July, an estimated 625,000 people have been affected by devastating flooding along the White Nile. On 13 August, the Government of South Sudan declared a state of emergency in the flood-affected areas. Some 360,000 people are now being targeted with flood response. For the latest information on flood-related humanitarian needs and response, see OCHA’s Flooding Snapshot #2 here: South Sudan: Flooding Snapshot (As of 21 September 2020)

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Emmi Antinoja, Head of Communications and Information Management, antinoja@un.org
Anthony Burke, Public Information Officer, +211 922 406 014, burkea@un.org