Climate Security in South Sudan: A Conversation with Ratia Tekenet

In today’s episode of New Security Broadcast, ECSP Director Lauren Risi interviews Ratia Tekenet, a Climate Security Expert with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and a former ECSP staff member. In their conversation, Ratia explores how climate change is intensifying South Sudan’s security challenges, creating an immense humanitarian crisis. She also discusses the efforts of UN agencies, the South Sudanese government, and local communities to build resilience and respond to ongoing climate disasters, as well as the need for greater integration of the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus. Select quotes from the interview are featured below.

On South Sudan’s climate vulnerability

“South Sudan has two big shocks. We have flooding on one side and drought on the other side. So, some states are severely impacted by flooding and other states by drought. And I can guarantee you that at the end of the year, by December, we’ll start talking about drought in some of those places.”

“So, the extensive flooding that happened is going to impact at least six states extensively. And we expect about 3 million people to be affected. This is significantly higher than what was experienced during the 2019–2020 floods. But now, just looking at the impact on Lake Victoria, it’s going to really increase it further.”

On how the government-led early warnings helped

“We’re seeing a lot of early warning messages go out, which are very much government-driven. They are developing key messages to ensure that people are getting this information on the ground so that they know the floodwaters are coming. And when people move, we need to be able to know how to respond. And also, for us as a mission, we’re taking precautions, first of all, to protect our bases. If we cannot protect our bases, we cannot reach out to the people we are trying to help.”

“The early warning in May jumpstarted the mission, humanitarian partners, development partners, and everybody came together, with the government as well. And for the first time, we see a national effort by the South Sudanese government in support of the UN system, the UN mission itself, other agencies, and everyone to rally around flood preparedness in terms of what we need to do.”

On the role of the UN Mission in South Sudan

“Flashpoint identification—we’ve used some historical data to examine areas where flooding could intensify existing conflicts or hinder responses and humanitarian efforts. And so mapping this out and also engaging with communities early on to ensure that sort of coexistence is not going to be affected when you have newcomers coming into the spaces is really important.”

“For us, as a mission, is targeting where some of this is going to happen. We know the trend of the flashpoint of conflict, and we’ve seen how, over the last couple of years, people have moved, and how that has affected inter-communal dynamics. And so, part of our engagement right now is going in early on to engage with communities and have dialogues to ensure that once the waters are high within their respective areas and they have to move, then they can be able to just coexist without violent things erupting.” 

On how community engagement looks on the ground 

“It [community engagement] looks very broad and like so many partners coming together, but I think it’s actually really cool when it comes down to the community. At the state level, we have a committee, which is made up of various groups of people, from young people to women and to many state ministers.”

“The traditional chiefs are also integrated. And so, it covers the folks on the ground and at the state level, such that when they meet and then go back into their respective areas, they can share this knowledge and information.”

On the influx of refugees from Sudan

“It’s been quite challenging as well, just given the humanitarian situation that the country is grappling with. Basically, we’ve seen reduced funding for humanitarian aid this year and last year.”

“When speaking with communities on the ground, we hear that a lot of the returnees that came last year are here for longer periods than they otherwise would be. But the situation in Sudan has gotten so bad that they’re not leaving anymore, which again has made it hard for our humanitarian partners to find ways to deal with this.”

“It’s quite a challenging scenario. And there’s just so many things happening all at once. The mission is trying to engage in a lot of the dialogues with host communities and the returnees in areas where they would mostly settle just to ensure that there is an understanding that these people are here for a certain period of time and then they will move once the situation improved, either back in their respective places or integrating within other states.”

On the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus

“The humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus is a critical framework for addressing complex challenges like those we experience here in South Sudan. And in terms of the barriers to implementation, the approaches are fragmented between the humanitarian, the development, and the peacebuilding actors. We are very much on the peace element, but also we inform the humanitarian and development actors—finding integrated solutions would be ideal in terms of building resilience, promoting durable peace, and also focusing on local leadership.”

“The short-term focus is on humanitarian responses, while the development side and the peacebuilding side usually require long-term investment. So sometimes this can create a little bit of a mismatch in timelines and priorities. And again, we are operating under the backdrop of very limited resources and insufficient funding across the board, which can be a challenge in terms of coordination and just implementing some of these comprehensive HDP approaches.”

On South Sudan as a young country addressing complex challenges

“I think the country is making good strides on certain aspects. I’ll touch on a point too that aligns with my work, which I can at least comment on a little bit. So, on the NDC [Nationally Determined Contributions], I think South Sudan submitted the second NDC in 2021, which outlines several priorities for the country that are critical, for them and for us working on climate security. This is crucial for us because we’re seeing the language on climate, peace, and security integrated into the South Sudan indices.”

“The sector prioritization has been good for us to be able to tap in and inform and guide the government actions in terms of also just mainstreaming, climate, peace, and security. Also, the land policy, which was adopted at the end of last year, is another critical policy framework that the country has been able to put in place.”

“Most of the time, when you are in a context that is grappling with humanitarian issues, that sort of takes precedence over climate change. But we’ve seen efforts by the government indicating that they are heavily involved in climate and environmental issues.”

This post was originally released to New Security Beat, the blog of the Wilson Center Environmental Change and Security Program. It has been cross-posted to Africa Up Close by request and with permission of ECSP.