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STORY: SOUTH SUDAN /FLOOD MITIGATION EFFORTS
TRT: 02:40
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC
DATELINE: 07 JANUARY 2026, BENTIU, UNITY STATE, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Various shots of PAK peacekeepers working
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bay Choul, Resident, Bentiu
“We have faced serious problems with flooding because of excessive rainfall. The people assisting us have been a great help and kept this area dry. This area remains dry thanks to the UN (remove, if possible). Without this support, we would have been in great trouble, as we have nowhere else to go.”
3. Variuos shots of PAK upgrading the dykes
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rhoda James, Resident, Bentiu:
“If the dykes had not been being reinforced and maintained, we would not have been here today, and our children would not have been safe.”
5. Shots PAK working at the Airstrip
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Captain Amber Asif, Engineering Taskforce, UNMISS:
“Bentiu town and IDP camp currently host [approximately] 0.3 million flood-affected [people], many who survive on World Food Programme air-delivered aid. For them, this air facility is not just infrastructure; it is their lifeline.”
7. Shots PAK taking measurement of water level and grading the dykes
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Major Namazul Fikar, Deputy Pakistani Commanding Officer, UNMISS:
“A significant rise in the water level is being observed (remove). Just to put it into perspective, a 60-centimetre rise in the water level has been observed in the past two months only. This significant increase is [putting] a lot of pressure on the existing dyke system, [and as a result], episodes of seepage and bulging are being observed.”
For residents of Bentiu in South Sudan’s frequently volatile Unity State, the last few years have entailed a near-constant fear of extraordinarily high water levels forcing them to leave their homes.
To prevent such forced displacements and to minimize the risk of loss of lives, livelihoods and property, Pakistani engineers serving with the United Nations Mission of South Sudan (UNMISS) have been working tirelessly to construct, reinforce and maintain several kilometers of dykes, with a second line of defense currently being built.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bay Choul, Resident, Bentiu:
“We have faced serious problems with flooding because of excessive rainfall. The people assisting us have been a great help and kept this area dry. This area remains dry thanks to the UN (remove, if possible). Without this support, we would have been in great trouble, as we have nowhere else to go.”
Despite all efforts to mitigate the effects of water levels rising, due to unusual weather patterns likely caused by climate change, floods have, at times, submerged both farmland and dwellings, thus disrupting food production and threatening lives.
Even during the dry season, the volumes of water continue to increase.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rhoda James, Resident, Bentiu:
“If the dykes had not been being reinforced and maintained, we would not have been here today, and our children would not have been safe.”
Floods also affect vital infrastructure, like roads and Bentiu’s airstrip.
SOUNDBITE (English) Captain Amber Asif, Engineering Taskforce, UNMISS:
“Bentiu town and IDP camp currently host [approximately] 0.3 million flood-affected [people], many who survive on World Food Programme air-delivered aid. For them, this air facility is not just infrastructure; it is their lifeline.”
The UNMISS peacekeepers have raised the dykes to over four meters, but more reinforcements are still likely to be needed.
SOUNDBITE (English) Major Namazul Fikar, Deputy Pakistani Commanding Officer, UNMISS:
“A significant rise in the water level is being observed (remove). Just to put it into perspective, a 60-centimetre rise in the water level has been observed in the past two months only. This significant increase is [putting] a lot of pressure on the existing dyke system, [and as a result], episodes of seepage and bulging are being observed.”
