Wani Michael, executive director of Okay Africa Foundation at an African Union youth function in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in April, 2019 | Credit | Facebook

A civil society leader has called on the Presidency to visit the areas affected by heavy rains and floods across the country.

Last week, President Salva Kiir declared a state of emergency in 27 areas affected by heavy floods.

A presidential decree highlighted the dire humanitarian situation inflicted on 16 areas in Greater Upper Nile, seven in Bahr el Ghazal, and four areas in Equatoria regions.

However, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian said severe flooding across the country has affected an estimated 900,000 people since July.

Eye Radio has over the months also reported on thousands of families in the three regions, including Abyei Administrative Area, being forced to seek shelter on higher grounds because of the persistent rainfall and flash floods.

Aid agencies have reported the closure of health centers due to floods, and most of the displaced are at risk of infection from water-borne diseases.

The states of Lol, Aweil East and West, Gogrial, Twic, Tonj and Abyei have been designated as critical.

The executive director of Okay Africa Foundation told Eye Radio that the state of emergency is not enough.

“I think we need to move beyond issuing decrees; the president should visit these areas to understand the magnitude of the effect of this rainfall,” Wani Michael said on Sunday.

“He [Kiir] will be able to really understand the magnitude of the situation on the ground instead of the governors coming to Juba to say everything is under control when we know for sure there are thousands of people who have been displaced by these floods and the situation is very very severe.”

South Sudan depends entirely on international aid organizations to address its humanitarian challenges.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management has often said it is unable to respond to any emergency because of lack of funds.

The UNOCHA says more than 60 per cent of the flood-affected areas in South Sudan are currently classified as facing extreme levels of acute malnutrition.

It adds that more than 3 million people out of the over 7 million people countrywide needed assistance even before the rains.