Feasibility of Accessing Basic Services for Vulnerable Groups Amidst COVID-19 and Climate Change in South Sudan

Introduction: South Sudan's COVID-19 crisis is exacerbated by flooding, food shortages, limited access to basic services, and ongoing conflict. The country has limited ability to mitigate and adapt to increasingly unpredictable rainfall, heat, drought, flooding, and sea level rise. Women and men are vulnerable to climate change in different ways due to gendered norms, labor divisions, resource access, and power dynamics. Maladaptation can occur as a result of poor or insufficient adaptation, as well as when conditions change faster than the ability to adapt. Some people may engage in maladaptive coping strategies in response to stress or trauma, such as substance abuse, violence, or denial.

Methodology: Using a mixed methods approach, this feasibility study included perspectives from household surveys (n= 462), FGDs (n= 6), and key informant interviews (n= 19) in 2021 in Jonglei state and 22 KII in 2023 in Juba with key humanitarian and health stakeholders, and displaced and host communities. The research question for this study is: How do gender roles and norms affect perceptions of urban living conditions? And what environmental challenges are faced by residents in South Sudan?

Results: Floods and COVID-19 disrupted agricultural production and availability of food in the markets livelihood support and health information, we found flood-affected populations resorting to maladaptive strategies and behaviors. 85 percent of the land is covered by water and given the no-harvest period since 2020 in South Sudan. Survey results show that women resort to myriad techniques to meet basic food requirements: food aid (25%); reliance on relatives (16%) and distress sale of animal products (14%).

Conclusion: This research looks at how different groups of women and men are affected by and respond to the health risks and consequences of COVID-19 and natural disasters. And how age, ethnicity, disability, and socioeconomic status affect their vulnerabilities and capabilities.