31 March 2020 - In South Sudan, where years of civil war hindered development of critical infrastructure and where healthcare systems are already strained and unable to cope with the needs of the population, it is critical that government, UN and humanitarian actors are adequately prepared and ready to respond.
ACTED South Sudan is rolling out a country-wide Covid-19 preparedness and response plan in order to continue its life saving operations without exposing staff and beneficiaries to risks, in close coordination with the authorities and other aid actors. To this end a number of key measures are being implemented in ACTED’s programmes:
Additionally, ACTED as the camp management agency in the Juba and Bor Protection of Civilian (POC) sites, where over 30,000 internally displaced people are residing in overcrowded shelters, will establish risk reduction practices through:
These initial measures urgently need to be supplemented in order to increase preparedness and response capacities in this war battered country. ACTED is planning a major scale-up of its Covid-19 activities to this end in the weeks and months to come.