A hundred days of (still ongoing) work: What UNMISS peacekeepers are doing to save Unity people from floods

unmiss south sudan unity state bentiu floods pakistan peacekeepers engineers dikes main supply routes protection of civilians

Not everyone is up for the task of protecting thousands and thousands of civilians from floods in Unity State, but our Pakistani peacekeepers are.

7 Jan 2022

A hundred days of (still ongoing) work: What UNMISS peacekeepers are doing to save Unity people from floods

Filip Andersson

When the going gets tough, the Pakistani peacekeepers based in Unity State and serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan aren’t ones to shy away. On 4 January, they marked their 100th day of continuous battling against some of the worst floods the state has experienced.

With the state capital Bentiu with its 200,000 residents and their support lifeline, the Rubkona airstrip, were under serious threat, the engineers from Pakistan took on the daunting task of constructing huge flood protection dikes, with hard work ongoing around the clock.

Some 80 kilometers of such earthen embankments, and the draining of the area of some five million liters of water, have also greatly contributed to protecting citizens from outbreaks of Cholera and other water- and airborne diseases, not to mention environmental hazards that would have resulted from a city dump site being flooded.

The UN peacekeepers also assisted humanitarian partners in building ramps to protect other main supply routes in the area, and have been at the disposal and service of local authorities when called upon. The engineering forces have pledged to continue to do whatever it takes, for how long it may take, to keep protecting civilian lives and livelihoods.

Their remarkable dedication and efforts have been duly and deservedly praised by several visiting delegations.