South Sudan launches early warning system to mitigate disasters

BOR – South Sudan’s minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management, Albino Akol Atak, has announced that the country will implement early warning system in a bid to mitigate effect of disasters such as floods.

The senior government official made the revelation during launch of “Early Warning for All Initiatives” and inception workshop for water at heart climate action project held in South Sudan’s capital Juba on Monday.

“All these required one unit system to significantly avoid displacement, food insecurity, human and livestock disasters, crop pest, loss of lives and destruction of livelihood and damages caused by these climatic events in South Sudan,” Akol said.

He said the early warning mechanism could prevent or reduce the risk of disaster.

“We all know effective early warning systems are one of those most proven, effective disaster risk reduction  of climatic adaptation measures that will help to inform the community of disaster to prepare themselves to save life and livelihood,” he said.

Akol says initiative is aimed at making sure that timely and accurate information about natural hazards and impending disasters reaches all segments of the country.

He said initiatives will be signs to adequately prepare for natural disasters to reduce cost of incurred after disasters hit, adding the country have experienced devastating floods, dry-spell, desert locust.

“Over the last decades, South Sudan has experienced multiple hazard events, consecutive floods from 2019 to 2022, drought and dry spell, desert locust where the impact which has taken devastating toll on its people and even this year some slights floods are experienced in unexpected areas,” he said.

The early warning for all aimed to reduce the impact of climate-related risks by enhancing early warning systems and community resilience.

The Early Warnings for All Initiative (EW4All) was formally launched by the UN Secretary-General in November 2022 at the COP27 meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The Initiative calls for the whole world to be covered by an early warning system by the end of 2027.