South Sudan says developing early warning system on disaster

Peter Mayen Majongdit, minister for humanitarian affairs and disaster - Standing Left - (File/Youtube)

JUBA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said Tuesday it's developing an early warning system aimed at monitoring and mitigating disasters following devastating floods since 2019 that have displaced thousands.

Peter Mayen Majongdit, minister for humanitarian affairs and disaster said they have dispatched a disaster management team on the ground to collect, compile and update existing information to help enhance capacity to respond to floods and other disasters.

"We have a national disaster management team that is already in the field and we are also building an early warning system to deter disaster, whether it be health, man-made or natural disaster," he told journalists in Juba on Tuesday.

Mayen disclosed that they are working closely with development partners to develop the early warning system ahead of the upcoming rainy season starting in April.

An estimated 1.04 million people have been affected by floods in South Sudan from July 2019 until 2020.

The worst affected populations were in Jonglei state and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in March launched an appeal, seeking 1.7 billion U.S. dollars to address the humanitarian needs of 6.6 million people this year.

"We are mobilizing resources and materials to respond to disaster but the most important thing is developing an early warning system whereby communities will be warned of upcoming disaster," said Mayen.

He advised farmers to heed instructions from the early warning system before planting crops.

"The farmers who are preparing their land should wait for instructions from the early warning system. It will help to tell them where their crops will be safe and the areas that will definitely be affected by floods," disclosed Mayen. Enditem