Organizational Profile: Introduction to South Sudan Environmental Advocates (SSEA), a community-based organization in South Sudan
By Philip Ayuen Dot, Juba, South Sudan
Our History
Tuesday, September 08, 2020 (PW) — South Sudan Environmental Advocates (SSEA) is a community based organization in the Republic of South Sudan and was formed on 3rd June 2020 in Juba with the vision and mission to create an environmental Advocacy umbrella that would involve everyone who is passionate about an environmentalsustainability and sustainable development goals. We’recommitted to our goals and dreams of improving and empowering the lives of our people particularly the youths, women and the general public in the social, economic, cultural and environmental sustainability settings by creating an enabling environment for the community’s participation in the developmental initiatives across South Sudan. Our lovely country is naturally endowed with rich biodiversity and we need to protect it for the benefit of the current and future generations. South Sudan Environmental Advocates (SSEA) is the first ever national environmental organization created in the history of the Republic of South Sudan. Our view as South Sudan Environmental Advocates (SSEA), is that biodiversity is life and life is biodiversity.
About us
We are fully dedicated to an environmental protection that foster a sustainable future and lead to social and economic improvement in South Sudan. We advocate for environmental conservation and solid waste management. South Sudan environmental Advocates (SSEA) is in the Republic of South Sudan for the good and solution of environmental, social, health issues and safety of mother-nature by addressing all kind of environmental challenges and offer an enduring solutions. SSEA is headquartered in Juba city and will rapidly expand countrywide in the near future. SSEA provides environmental advocacy, awareness and social governance services to the communities of South Sudan, governments, institutions, hospitals and Energy sectors, Oil and Gas, mining, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing industry. SSEA has been advocating for environmental issues and it offer technical support in environmental protection and social performance within South Sudan and beyond through all platforms of media outlets across South Sudan. And for instance, Paanluel Wel Media outlet, Nyamilemedia Media, South Sudan News Now,South Sudan 24 Hours News, Sudans Post Media and the DAWN Daily Newspaper has been continuously publishing our environmental articles until now and we’ll soldier on like that in the future to create sufficient awareness on environmental issues and solutions in South Sudan. We express our warm appreciation with massive respect to the entire Newspaper’sManagement. The DAWN Daily Newspaper, general manager, Editor-in-chief, Mr. Emmanuel Monychol Akop and the wholenews’ reporters such as Mr. Benjamin Takpiny Chagai for their unique support they’ve accorded to us to championed environmental awareness on their most respectable and widely read newspaper in South Sudan.
OUR VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT
VISION: To be a world class community Based Organization that inspires advocacy, positive change on environmental challenges facing South Sudan and mainstreaming of environmental concerns in development and sustainability of the present and future global community.
MISSION: To create a viable society that Prevent, restore and protect Environment by reducing degradation and building green, healthy and sustainable ecosystem in the communities by empowering the society.
N/B: our main desire, mission and key target for Juba city is to make it the cleanest city in Africa like Kigali city ofRwanda within the period of five years only.
South Sudan Environmental Advocates (SSEA) is an environmental organization that seeks to create awareness of environmental challenges in South Sudan and assist in solving them. As the newest Country in the world, the country is blessed with diverse biodiversity, valuable minerals and a resilient population. However, challenges like climate change, waste management, deforestation, air and water pollution and flooding are some of the issues the country is grappling with.
It is these challenges that inspired Mr. Philip Ayuen Dot to come up with South Sudan Environmental Advocates (SSEA). Mr.Dot was born in villager of Malek, Jonglei State and was raised there during his early years before his family sent him to kakuma refugee’s camp, Kenya where he started his education. While growing up he saw the environmental challenges that the people of his community were facing such as constant flooding and waterborne diseases that killed many people, wanton deforestation and killing of wildlife and unstructured waste disposal.
This was around the same time that late prof. Wangari Maathai was successfully petitioning the people and government of not just Kenya, but Africa as a whole to take care of the environment as this earth is the only home we have. This inspired Mr. Dot who went on to pursue a bachelor in Environmental Science from Kenyatta University in Nairobi Kenya. While doing his studies he volunteered in Sustainability and Climate Change, Save the Elephants initiative, and worked with Kenya’s ministry of environment in the hope that he would acquire valuable experience and knowledge to bring back to South Sudan and make a difference.
So though South Sudan Environmental Advocates ( SSEA) was formally registered on 12th August 2020, its seeds have long existed in Mr. Dot who has always had a passion for protecting the environment. This organization represents his dreams, hopes and vision for a country whose environment should be sustainably used, and whose people do not suffer unnecessarily due to environmental challenges such as climate change. Furthermore, wildlife and other precious biodiversity can be conserved and preserved so that future generations in the country can also enjoy the heritage the land has bestowed on them.
One of the core objectives of South Sudan Environmental Advocates (SSEA), even as the name suggests is to create awareness of the challenges facing South Sudan’s environment and together with the communities, companies, NG0s and other stakeholders, come up with working solutions. Waste management is an area of interest given that the country faces a huge waste management problem that South Sudan has grappled with since its inception. From plastics that are an eye sore, to health waste that is a danger to the people to oil production waste that finds its way into people’s drinking water to industrial waste. All these endangers human life while degrading the environment. SSEA offers waste management solutions tailor made for the organization or institution to ensure sustainable waste management. SSEA also offers advice on recycling and reusing whenever possible.
Climate change adaptation and mitigation is another area that SSEA hopes to make an impact in. South Sudan is one of the top 5 countries globally at risk of climate change effects. It is highly vulnerable as the frequent floods are showing and most communities in the country are highly susceptible to the effects of climate change. This has rendered some to become climate change’s refugees, while millions are at constant risk of climate change disrupting their lives every few months. SSEA offers climate change adaptation and mitigation advice to organizations, institutions and communities. SSEA is also in a position to carry out climate change and adaptation projects.
Other areas of immense interest for SSEA is deforestation where the organization hopes to not only protect the existing forest resources but also carry out massive tree planting activities to assist the country mitigate and adapt to climate change. Energy and in particular green sources of energy are another focus of SSEA, where the organization hopes to spread the adaptation of development plans that will use green energy instead of energy sources that cause immense pollution. In the household use, SSEA hopes to assist in the uptake of green energy sources such as the solar energy.
South Sudan Environmental Advocates also offers the following services to organizations, institutions and factories; Environmental Management Consultancy that includes Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audits, assisting companies in their Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Compliance.
SSEA hopes to achieve all this by partnering with donors, communities and the ministry of environment in South Sudan. So far various media outlets have been of great assistance inassisting SSEA create environmental awareness through hosting of Mr. Dot for talks on radio and providing space for his environmental articles on their platforms. Furthermore the ministry of environment in South Sudan has been very welcoming and a fruitful partnership has blossomed that will hopefully lead to future collaborations. Some of the international organizations that are partnering with SSEA include the Sweden based CLENA SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.
It is the hope of South Sudan Environmental Advocates (SSEA) that the Sustainable Development Goals shall be localized in South Sudan and achieved. We might be the youngest country, but that doesn’t prevent us from protecting, conserving and sustainably using our environment. That is the honorable duty that SSEA has placed on its shoulders and hopes to partner with you in achieving it.
The author is the Founder and Executive director of South Sudan environmental Advocates (SSEA) and can be reach via his email: Philipdot57@gmail.com or Tel: +211922104999/+254729445484 Web: www.sseasouthsudan.org
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