1.6 Million at Risk as Floods Loom in  South Sudan

By Awan Achiek

The U.N. Resident Coordinator in South Sudan, Anita Kiki Gbeho, on Tuesday warned of devastating floods expected to affect 1.6 million people in the coming months.

These floods are anticipated to worsen food insecurity and limit access to safe water and proper sanitation facilities for the population.

Kiki, a Ghanaian United Nations official in Africa’s youngest nation, revealed this during a meeting with Vice President for Gender and Youth Cluster, Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior, which was held in Juba on Tuesday.

“This year, we’re preparing to respond to 1.6 million people, or rather, we expect that 1.6 million people will be affected by flooding, and we expect to respond to a little under 900,000 people,” Kiki told SSBC on Tuesday.

Kiki, who is the Deputy Special Representative in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, stated that the meeting discussed ways to respond to the floods.

“We took the opportunity to talk about flooding. We spoke about cholera. She encouraged me and the humanitarian actors to continue visiting the field and to look at how we can deliver,” she said.

South Sudan, with a population of more than 12.4 million people, has experienced the worst floods since independence in 2011.

In 2024, floods broke out in South Sudan due to the rising water level of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in the region.

The states most severely affected by the floods include Jonglei, Lakes, Unity, Upper Nile, Warrap, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and the Abyei Administrative Area.

In July 2024, the cabinet approved 78 million U.S. dollars under its emergency flood preparedness and response plan to mitigate the impact of the looming floods on livelihoods and infrastructure across the country.

The funds are intended to enhance the country’s ability to prepare for anticipated disasters.

On October 3, 2024, the cabinet endorsed the declaration of the ongoing heavy floods as a national disaster.