Afrigather 
In a world the place emergencies and disasters can strike at any second and wherever, the significance of proactive preparation can’t be overstated. Central Equatoria State in South Sudan is pioneering a groundbreaking initiative to bolster its resilience towards potential hazards, by means of the event of hazard-specific contingency plans on the county stage, the State is taking proactive steps to mitigate the impression of emergencies and disasters on public well being and security.
“The County contingency plans anticipate hazards in places like Yei River County and guarantee a quick and environment friendly response utilizing hazard-specific plans, potential response scales, situations and a multi-hazard core response mechanism,” stated Ms Agnes Agnes Nyoka, Major Well being Care Supervisor, Yei River County.
Central Equatoria State faces a various scale of threats starting from armed battle to infectious ailments and environmental challenges. Recognizing the necessity for tailor-made responses to those hazards, the State performed its first sub-national danger evaluation and profiling of hazards in October 2023. The findings highlighted a spectrum of dangers, together with malaria, Ebola Virus Illness (EVD), and highway site visitors accidents, amongst others, every presenting various levels of hazard to the state’s inhabitants.
The State launched into a complete strategy to preparedness by creating hazard-specific contingency plans on the county stage. Kajo-keji, Morobo, and Yei River Counties have been chosen for this initiative attributable to their distinctive geographic traits and susceptibility to particular hazards.
The goals of the hazard-specific contingency plans embody anticipating potential threats, and vulnerabilities and minimizing their impression on public well being by means of proactive measures; figuring out particular wants related to every hazard and outlining mitigation actions tailor-made to handle them successfully; creating detailed plans for the implementation of mitigation actions, together with useful resource allocation and time estimates; determine and mobilize the mandatory sources, together with personnel, tools, logistics capacities, and provides, to assist response efforts and constantly monitor progress in plan implementation to evaluate effectiveness and adapt methods as wanted.
By adhering to those goals, the State goals to not solely improve its capability to answer emergencies and disasters but in addition to construct a tradition of resilience inside its communities. By means of proactive planning, monitoring and coordination, the State seeks to attenuate sickness, loss of life and incapacity attributable to emergencies and disasters, finally safeguarding the well-being of its inhabitants.
“South Sudan has taken proactive steps to handle public well being challenges. In consequence, the nationwide and subnational ranges have applied decentralized danger profiling and emergency plans whereas establishing Activity Forces and multidisciplinary Speedy Response Groups on the State and County ranges,” stated Mr Yona Kenyi, Surveillance Officer, Central Equatoria State. “Our strategy prioritizes neighborhood involvement in figuring out potential hazards and ensures that county-level, hazard-specific contingency plans are developed and totally understood.”
The event of those contingency plans concerned a collaborative effort, partaking stakeholders from numerous sectors and companion organizations. This participatory strategy ensured that the plans have been complete, incorporating insights and experience from varied fields and sectors. By involving, the State aimed to foster possession and dedication to the implementation of those plans.
“Due to the beneficiant contribution of the European Union for Humanitarian Support, the importance of Central Equatoria State’s initiative extends past its borders, serving as a mannequin for different States grappling with comparable challenges. By prioritizing preparedness, catastrophe danger discount, and collaboration, the State demonstrates that proactive measures can mitigate the impression of even essentially the most daunting hazards, making certain a safer and extra resilient future for all”, stated Dr Humphrey Karamagi, WHO Consultant for South Sudan.
Technical contact:
Julu Louis Kenyi Joseph, E mail: louisju [at] who.int
