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UN PhotoSOUTH SUDAN / FLOOD PREVENTION
STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / FLOOD PREVENTION
TRT: 02:38
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 30 MAY 2025, BENTIU, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Wide shot, flood water surrounded Rubkona Airstrip and UNMISS Bentiu Base
2. Wide shot, flood water surrounded Rubkona Airstrip
3. Wide shot, heavy trucks traversing raised roadway through flooded area
4. Med shot, heavy truck driving onto raised roadway through flooded area
5. Med shot, local women walking onto raised walkway
6. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Solomon Yain, Displacement Camp Leader:
“Life before the floods was better. When the IDP [internally displaced] members came here, they had access to go and collect firewood in the bushes and forests. Now, things have changed.”
7. Various shots, women collecting dried plants to use for fire
8. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Major Hilmi Munsif, Chief Of Operations, Pakistani Engineering Contingent:
“Bentiu and its surroundings are a very low-lying area. If we take the example of a bowl, you could consider Bentiu the bottom of the bowl. So, every rainfall that is coming from the Nile River or the south, comes to this location and tends to accumulate here.”
9. Med shot, MonBatt Peacekeeper overlooking Pakistan Engineers working
10. Wide shot, MonBatt Peacekeeper overlooking Pakistan Engineers machines working
11. Various shots, water patrol and water measuring
12. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Denis Fuh Chenwi, Acting Head of UNMISS Bentiu Field Office:
“I would like to say that flood mitigation and flood response is a collective effort. It is important for the state, communities, partners, UN agencies and other partners to play their role and come together in this process, this unexpected and unfortunate process. Our hope is that this process will be continuing, and we will work together with the government and communities to work together to mitigate and respond.”
13. Various shots, Pakistan Engineers working on Rubkona Airstrip
Communities across South Sudan are struggling to confront the mounting threat posed by the climate crisis. It is essentially a case of extremes, with heat waves in some parts of the country killing crops and starving people and livestock of water, while other parts are suffering from extraordinary flooding, wiping out homes, submerging land, and causing conflict between communities forced to compete for scarce resources.
In Bentiu, communities are still dealing with the aftermath of the massive overflow from swollen Nile River which swept across the State in 2020 and has never receded.
Solomon Yain, Displacement Camp Leader said, “Life before the floods was better. When the IDP [internally displaced] members came here, they had access to go and collect firewood in the bushes and forests. Now, things have changed.”
At the time, Pakistani engineers of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), in partnership with humanitarian agencies and state authorities, rapidly mobilized to build a vast network of dykes to protect 300,000 people stranded on a tiny sliver of land. This fragile prevention measure is essentially keeping the area afloat.
Major Hilmi Munsif, Chief of Operations, Pakistani Engineering Contingent, said, “Bentiu and its surroundings are a very low-lying area. If we take the example of a bowl, you could consider Bentiu the bottom of the bowl. So, every rainfall that is coming from the Nile River or the south, comes to this location and tends to accumulate here.”
The engineers don’t just maintain the dykes, together with UNMISS Mongolian peacekeepers, they also conduct weekly monitoring of water levels to provide early warning of any increase and enable long-term responses. The risks are increasing year on year, with the accumulated 738mm of rainfall in 2024 causing water levels to rise more than half a meter. This year, accumulated rainfall is expected to reach 1100mm, an increase of more than 50 percent. In response, the engineers are working around the clock to raise the dyke levels by 1.5 meters.
While the outlook is grim, the resilience and resolve of Bentiu residents remains. Turning the threat into an opportunity, they’ve found new means of survival, building canoes to allow them to go fishing and reach far into the flooded areas to find firewood to dry and sell at the local market. But their ongoing survival still depends on the collective efforts of many stakeholders.
Denis Fuh Chenwi, Acting Head of UNMISS Bentiu Field Office, said, “I would like to say that flood mitigation and flood response is a collective effort. It is important for the state, communities, partners, UN agencies and other partners to play their role and come together in this process, this unexpected and unfortunate process. Our hope is that this process will be continuing, and we will work together with the government and communities to work together to mitigate and respond.”
A priority is to maintain the essential lifeline provided by the local airstrip which enables travel as well as the entry of vital humanitarian supplies and other commodities to the stranded communities. So far, the efforts of peacekeepers and partners in protecting this asset have been effective, but there is no doubt among this population that unpredictable climate shocks will continue to create new threats.
