Radio Miraya
2676: World Water Day: Robert Taban Lominsuk, UNICEF WASH Specialist
as today is World War today. It's an annual observance by the United Nations to underscore the vital importance of fresh water globally. Now 2.2 billion people lack access to safe water. And in South Sudan, 41% of the population faces this challenge and it's constantly worsened by economic struggles, climate change and conflict. So this year's theme is Water for Peace and it highlights the interconnectedness of water, prosperity and peace, urging us to unite and use water as a catalyst for stability and prosperity. Now additionally, South Sudan grapples with a heat wave. It's ongoing, you've experienced it and it's currently disrupting various sectors including education and promoting the need for a safe water to combat dehydration. So to speak more about this, today we are joined by Robert Taban who is from UNICEF, he is a WASH specialist and we're also expecting Ludia Gabriel who is a young reporter with UNICEF. But first, let's speak to Robert Taban. Good morning, Robert. Good morning, Lulu. Yes, how are you this morning? It's hot, but I'm good. I mean, these days it's an expected response from everybody. Like, how are you? It is hot. So yes, welcome to Miraya breakfast show. Briefly, just to get into the actual cause of what's going on, how has climate change really affected us? Yeah, Lulu, the water and climate change are really inseparable linked. Climate change affects water in a very complex waste from unpredictable rainfall patterns to shrinking ice sheets in some parts of the world, rising water levels, in South Sudan we are seeing floods, we are seeing droughts. So most impacts of climate change really come down to water. We see it through water. And climate change is also exacerbating both water scarcity and also water related hazards. For us in South Sudan, it's mainly floods and really droughts. And so these rising temperatures are disrupting precipitation patterns and disrupting the whole water cycle. So phenomena like floods, you know, these severely disrupt access to safe drinking water by contaminating water sources, damaging the infrastructure that we get water from. Whereas drought means limited or completely no access to any sort of water. So, yeah. Okay, and so with what's going on really, what are some of the initiatives UNICEF is currently implementing and strategies also for enhancing access to safe water? Yeah, so as UNICEF, we are ensuring that wash infrastructure, services and behaviors, a sustainable safe and resilient really climate related risks. This also goes hand in hand with the sustainable use protection and management of surface and groundwater sources, but also resilient waste management. This is one factor that we're also looking at. The other strategies as UNICEF, what we are doing is ensuring that resilient wash programs contribute to building community resilience to help them adapt to impacts of climate change. And to achieve this, inequalities in service provision that disproportionately expose vulnerable groups to climate threats or restrict their capacity to respond effectively, this need to be addressed fast. And furthermore, wash contributes to community resilience, contribution to community resilience. This can be achieved through capacity development and by fostering income generation as well as food energy and ecosystem resilience. So everything we are doing is we are building climate resilience into it, but also building the capacity of the communities. The other thing that we're also doing is working towards a low carbon water sector by improving water and energy efficiency. And also ensuring where possible to use renewable energy for water and sanitation operations to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The greenhouse gas emissions are the ones that are leading to some of these climate changes. So these are some of the strategies and initiatives that are putting into place as UNICEF. And in your opinion, what are some of the efforts, the collaborative efforts and innovative solutions that are very essential to address these issues of water availability, but also climate change itself in South Sudan? Yeah, you see climate change issues are really-- these are not issues that can only be tackled by one sector or by UNICEF alone. This requires all stakeholders, including the national government being at the helm of it all. So for me, my recommendation would be providing an enabling environment that is conducive to climate resilience, water services, and communities. And this we can achieve by having knowledge available on climate risks, and this information should be shared. We should have climate risk informed policies, strategies, plans, and programs. We need to have adequate budget and resources allocated towards climate resilient water services in the communities. And the other thing would be, in the sector coordination, should be strengthened, really, with a lot of focus on health, food security, and education sectors, because these are really key sectors that affect us as humans. But also, we need to strengthen early warning systems, put them in place, and make sure they are working. So the other thing that our recommend really would be providing access to climate resilient wash infrastructure and services, we need to have-- a project should be designed, and implementation of wash standards. This should be strengthened. And water storage should be enhanced, and also protection. We've seen places that experience floods. I mean, droughts. I mean, they go for long periods without water. But if during the rainy season, we can have this water, protect it so well, store it so well, communities can go on to survive during periods, and there's really no rain and no water supply. We should have climate smart technologies. This also helps to impact less. What are some of the examples of these climate smart technologies? So these climate smart technologies I would say using renewable energy for water supply, we need to avoid using fossil fuel for supply and water. So this is one that we are really advocating. It's climate friendly, but also economically it's friendly. So this is one of the key, I mean, climate smart technologies that we are advocating as UNICEF. So the other thing that I would really recommend would be climate resilient behavior change, and governance at community and local level. Like I mentioned earlier, the climate issue really isn't an issue of one person or one institution. It needs all stakeholders to be brought on board. And the communities who are really the people who are primarily affected, they shouldn't be left out. They need to be part of this planning, part of the implementation, and part of the whole thing. So capacities and resources for local governments, local private sectors to implement and monitor such work resilient programs and needs to be strengthened. Local markets as well, the supply chain extended and depend to increase its availability of climate resilient products and services, then all the warning and response systems also at the community level. At the community level. Wow, these are all very important things to do. And they seem like things that will take some time to establish, especially since most of them are quite technical. But I want to briefly talk about children. The heat wave is especially affecting children. And yesterday we had this update from Alsaba, just here in Juba, where there are over 50 children being admitted from the symptoms from the heat wave. And this is daily, daily admissions. What can you say about this and how children can be either protected or helped in this regard? I think the whole thing with the heat heat, heat wave, and the effect is having on children and other vulnerable groups in the community, it basically comes back to dehydration. So what would urge and emphasize everyone out there is we need to really help these children hydrate as much as possible. Let's make the deliberate effort really to ensure there is constant supply of drinking water for these children and really take care of them. A child, they will not know some of these things. They will continue to want to play as usual as normal. But the heat wave is real. And if the body isn't really well hydrated, it's affected in very many various ways. And that's why we are having all these cases. All right, thank you so much for coming and speaking to us this morning on all that needs to be done. Or what is already being done and what needs to be done in terms of access to water? And what is your final message? And this would request be in regards to water and peace since that is the theme for today. For me, my final message is this year's theme is water for peace. And we know water can create peace, or it can spark conflict. And when water is cast or polluted, or when people have unequal or no access, tension can rise. So it's in our best interest. But the government and all players in the sector really ensure equal access to water, to all communities. Once we have this equal access and all communities, we are happy we will not have conflicts and communities. Thank you so much, Robert, for coming. And we continue to have these conversations as water, indeed, is life. Thank you.