South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
The national minister of water resources and irrigation, Pal Mai Deng on Tuesday said that the country faces serious water challenges ranging from inadequate water infrastructure, conflict and security, climate change and limited funding.
“Currently South Sudan’s water challenges are limited access to safe clean drinking water, inadequate water infrastructure, conflict and security, climate change, poor sanitation and hygiene practices and limited funding and lack of political will and commitment from the government,” Deng said during the opening of the three- days conference on WASH sector review in Juba.
Deng also revealed that poor coordination among the WASH sectors coupled with limited institutional capacity and water catchment degradation are affecting the water and sanitation situation in the country.
He disclosed that the 2012 water assessment report found that 30 percent of the country’s population had access to clean drinking water, prior to outbreak of the December 2013 war.
“WASH sector situation in South Sudan has been affected by decades of war, leading to destruction and neglect of water, and the four years of flash flooding and torrential rains have deteriorated the situation and quality of living,” Deng said.
He also noted that last WASH report conducted in 2012, revealed that over 60 percent of South Sudan’s population had no access to safe and clean drinking water, with over 7 percent of the country’s population still practicing open defecation.
South Sudan ranks globally among countries with the worst indicators in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector (WASH).
Ismail Kamil, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Deputy Country Representative for South Sudan called for concerted efforts from donors, partners and all levels of government, communities and private sector to improve the WASH sector.
“If we are to achieve Sustainable Development Goal for water and sanitation, we must ensure sustainable development for water of which ownership by the government and communities is central,” he said.
Michael Okuny, the Senior Financial Management Specialist for the World Bank in South Sudan, said that the youngest nation needs a well-suited response plan which provides for longer- term and cost-effective solution to persistent water challenges.
“The humanitarian and emergency responses such as rehabilitation and provision of rural water points are crucial to respond to the urgent challenges and immediate needs, however, they are not well-suited to provide longer- term and cost-effective solution to persistent water challenges,” Okuny said.
Okuny said that South Sudan needs to embark on the gradual transition from the current dependence on humanitarian organizations for water management toward the longer- term government led sustainable development approach.
Bonguot Amum, the Chairperson of the Specialized Parliamentary Committee for Water Resources and Irrigation, said that they plan to advocate for construction of public facilities like latrines along roads, in schools and markets in a bid to improve WASH sector in the country.
“Our main objective is to strengthen collaboration and accelerate progress towards achieving universal access to water sanitation and hygiene, of course we need to do awareness for behavioral changes so that by 2030 we can improve basic hygiene,” Amum said.
“We envision the future where every South Sudanese citizen has access to clean and safe water, where proper sanitation facilities are readily available and where hygiene practices are integrated in our daily lives,” She added.
The water conference is being held under the theme: Transitioning from Humanitarian to sustainable development in the WASH sector” is supported by the World Bank, UNICEF, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Kingdom of Netherlands.
