JUBA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Local communities have started rebuilding their lives, backed by the South Sudan Enhancing Community Resilience and Local Governance Project Phase II (ECRP-II), a five-year, 150-million-U.S.-dollar initiative approved by the World Bank in 2022.
Implemented by the South Sudanese government in partnership with the International Organization for Migration, the project focuses on expanding access to basic infrastructure, strengthening local governance institutions, and enhancing community resilience against recurrent flooding and other climate-related disasters.
"When we fled to Rubkona, we had no home. We depended on relatives and humanitarian assistance," said William Kuon, a South Sudanese farmer who fled their ancestral home in Unity State seven years ago due to severe flooding.
The construction of protective dikes, new roads, a borehole, schools, and a health facility has allowed his family, alongside thousands of others, to return to the reclaimed land.
The initiative is projected to benefit roughly 920,000 people across 12 of South Sudan's 79 counties. It aims to improve access to essential services such as education, health care, clean water, roads, and electricity, while bolstering disaster risk management systems and local government capacity.
This investment comes at a critical juncture for South Sudan, where years of conflict and successive floods have displaced millions, crippled existing infrastructure, and weakened local institutions.
Unity State remains one of the regions hardest hit by these recurrent floods, which have submerged entire villages for years and forced thousands of families into displacement camps.
"When ECRP came, this area was underwater," said Tutdel Jal Char, the chief of Pakur Boma. "The dike reclaimed the land, and people returned home. We now have roads, schools, clean water, and a health facility. Farmers can transport produce to the market, and children no longer walk long distances to school."
Char noted that communities directly helped identify their own development priorities through village planning meetings, ensuring the investments reflected their most urgent needs.
Education has become one of the most visible signs of this recovery. Before Denja Primary School was built, pupils attended lessons under trees or in temporary shelters, and many dropped out due to the poor learning conditions.
Mead Dak Mead, the school's head teacher, said enrollment has since increased from fewer than 70 pupils before construction to 786 today.
He highlighted that children are now learning in permanent classrooms, attendance has improved, and more parents are actively sending their children to school.
Despite this progress, residents also highlighted that the recovery is still incomplete.
Large stretches of land remain underwater, limiting farming and settlement, while schools still face shortages of electricity, laboratory equipment, school feeding programs, and teaching materials.
Community leaders called for additional land reclamation to accommodate more returning families and boost food production.
