People use canoes to cross from one village to another as low-lying areas have been submerged in the Upper Nile region | Credit | Courtesy

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released 19 million US dollars in funding to help communities in South Sudan prepare for imminent flooding this rainy season.

UNOCHA said in a statement last week that the finance will be channeled to UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to provide coping strategies to people in the Bentiu camps and the surrounding areas in Unity State.

South Sudan is projected to suffer a fourth consecutive year of extreme flooding over the coming months, according to experts.

Tens of thousands in Unity State are still suffering from the aftermath of last year’s flooding, with many confined in poor hygiene at overcrowded camps.

The agency said more than 320,000 people are already displaced and at risk of further displacement, loss of livelihoods, disease outbreaks, and food insecurity.

Sara Beysolow Nyanti is the agency’s Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan.

She said the funding will help build resilience after three years of unprecedented flooding which has devastated people’s lives.

“As the rainy season has started, this funding will enable humanitarian organizations to soften the blow of another crisis by preparing and protecting communities in Bentiu in advance,” she said.

The money was released by two subsidiaries of the agency; the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SSHF) and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Some $4 million of the funding is expected to enable NGOs and UN agencies to reinforce dikes around vital access roads, displaced people’s homes, the airstrip, and other infrastructure.

The remaining 15-million dollars-allocations will support people to protect their homes and key infrastructures such as latrines and water wells, from floodwater, and thus aim to avert a public health emergency.

Days ago, the Ministry of Health declared a cholera outbreak in several IDP camps and the surrounding areas of Rubkona County.