Written by Jo Dallas, Christian Aid. Jo is Scotland’s Media Officer for Christian Aid.
We are living through a global pandemic and a global climate emergency. Rewind 3 months when the hopes of the world rested on decision makers in Glasgow at the 26th UN climate summit – COP26. Stories from the ‘frontline’ of the climate crisis were shared, by those living in countries feeling its devastating impact on a daily basis: climate change survivors. I use the word survivor deliberately. I met many people at COP26 who had come through extreme weather events which were destructive and life changing. And as survivors, they had come to Glasgow to share their own stories and raise the alarm that the climate emergency is real.
At Christian Aid we constantly hear from climate change survivors, living in some of the remote and fragile communities in which we work. South Sudan is a country I’ve been writing about in depth for many months and just the week before COP26 got underway, the UN warned that extreme flooding had once again made nearly a million people homeless. This is the third year in a row the country has endured widespread and prolonged flooding and these ‘climate shocks’ are hitting a country already experiencing a humanitarian crisis driven by conflict, food insecurity and Covid-19.
One of my colleagues in Juba, Joseph Odu, has recently returned from a visit to Unity State in northern South Sudan, a trip which was delayed because the area was inaccessible due to high water levels and safety concerns following violent conflict. Indeed, the visit, to meet impacted communities and begin delivery of Scottish Government funded humanitarian assistance, had to be planned using a United Nations light aircraft and boats, with road networks completely submerged.
Joseph (pictured in the middle of the boat) is Christian Aid’s Emergency Programme Manager and his job is ensuring that funding is safely delivered to those most in need, working alongside local partners and community leaders. In Unity State the need is immense. Roughly 90 percent of the area has been underwater in recent months due to heavy rains and flooded rivers, made worse because the land was already waterlogged from previous flooding. Joseph told me what he’d witnessed was on a scale he’d never experienced before,
“What I saw in Unity State has been the worst humanitarian catastrophe I have ever seen in the 21st century. Human settlements are being consumed by floods, animals are starving or drowning, livelihoods are destroyed, people living on water lilies, access roads submerged in water. As if the mentioned are not enough, where water levels are receding, different things come in: snakes, scorpions and mosquitos are some of the challenges communities and partners experience in the field.”
Joseph’s words articulate the multiple challenges communities are facing and the complexities of delivering humanitarian assistance. A local and well trusted partner, UNIDOR, is distributing the emergency cash grants, seeds and fishing equipment to over 4000 families. These families were identified as being especially vulnerable and with additional needs, for example people living with a disability or expectant mothers. Thanks to the Scottish Government, climate change survivors in Unity State are being reached with vital humanitarian assistance and also, importantly, are being given an opportunity to tell their own stories:
A mother’s voice
Nyaneng Khol Kulang has 8 children. She says the flooding has made life much worse for them in many ways. Here she is pictured preparing water lily bulbs, which can be turned into flour. It’s one of the only sources of food she can find and she says most of her day, from morning till evening is spent hunting for them in the water,
“We feed on water lily (nuphar lutea) because we have nothing to eat. Snakes also attack us like anaconda and other dangerous snakes.”
A father’s voice
Kuei Bee Thiey is in his late 70s and speaks of the flooding destroying his home, belongings and his livestock. He says he made a boat in order to move his family to a new (dry) place to stay. Food is scarce and with the cash grant he will be able to buy food for his family. Sometimes his youngest son goes fishing in the river. He hopes to receive some farming tools so that he can plant new crops. Meanwhile Luny Machar, has 5 children. He lives with a disability and says life for his family has been very challenging. The flood water has destroyed all the crops and due to the current situation, his children can’t attend school,
“What I need most is food because we have nothing to eat. I cannot afford to get food for my family. I really appreciate this small support of money because I wasn’t expecting it.”
A farmer’s voice
Nyadin Liah is Chair of a mothers’ support group and is pictured here preparing the ground for new planting, now the waters are starting to recede, she says they have suffered during these challenging months,
“our farms were destroyed by flood water, no farms were producing food.”
Her cash grant will allow her to buy food while she waits to secure seeds that she can plant. She hopes to grow tomatoes and okra and has previously received training in farming techniques. Despite the challenging times she says she’s written a short song, so that the words teach new mothers about the importance of eating well.
To find out more about Christian Aid projects which have been supported by the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund you can visit:
christianaid.org.uk/our-work/working-scottish-government
Christian Aid has just launched a new campaign action calling for an international Loss and Damage fund to be established, you can sign the petition here:
https://www.christianaid.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/loss-and-damage-petition