Tackling WASH Challenges in South Sudan with mWater: A Digital Revolution
Written by Binepe Bwambale
Save the children staff during a field practice
Introduction
South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, embodies great potential despite facing formidable challenges. Born in July 2011 after decades of conflict, it stands at a crossroads with significant natural resources and a youthful population eager for progress. Yet, the nation grapples with recovery from internal strife, the devastating impacts of climate change, and fragile infrastructure. These adversities, however, have not dimmed the country's aspirations for development and stability. In this article, we will explore how Save the Children South Sudan has employed the use of mWater to solve the WASH systems and infrastructure challenges. First, let’s examine the country.
South Sudan is located in northeastern Africa and is characterized by a diverse landscape that includes lush savannas, swamplands, and rainforests. The country is mainly flat, with the Nile River being its most significant geographical feature, running through the central part of the country and providing essential water resources for irrigation and farming. Additionally, South Sudan has mountainous regions, particularly the Imatong Mountains near the Ugandan border, with peaks exceeding 3,000 meters, including Mount Kinyeti, the country's highest point at 3,187 meters (Encyclopedia Britannica) (WorldAtlas).
A beautiful country with big challenges
Despite being endowed with considerable natural resources, the country continues to face significant vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters, compounding the country’s humanitarian crisis, jeopardizing recovery, and undermining development efforts. Since its independence in 2011, the country has suffered from severe droughts (2011, 2015) and floods (2014, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022), resulting in high numbers of fatalities, displacements, and loss of livestock which have severely impacted people’s livelihoods. A report by USAID showed that in 2021 floods displaced over 300,000 people and resulted in economic losses of at least $671 million
A report by the World Bank indicated that South Sudan remains in a severe humanitarian crisis. An estimated 9 million people, including refugees in South Sudan, will experience critical needs in 2024, including an estimated 7.1 million who will require food assistance during the lean season from April to July 2024. According to this report, women and children continue to be the most affected. World Bank report
Despite peace agreements in 2015, 2017, and 2018, political violence persists in South Sudan. The 2018 Revitalized Agreement aimed to establish peace, but progress has been slow. In 2024, increased inter-communal violence led to more peacekeepers being deployed after a surge in civilian casualties and displacements (global-conflict-tracker). The ongoing conflict, worsened by climate change and economic shocks, has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis. mercycorps/blog/south-sudan-crisis
Amidst the challenges of political violence, climate change, and economic instability, South Sudan remains resilient and hopeful. Despite setbacks, the nation's commitment to peace is evident in its continuous efforts to implement the 2018 Revitalized Agreement. The focus on digital innovations, like the adoption of the mWater platform, emphasizes South Sudan's dedication to improving infrastructure and public health. These efforts reflect a steadfast resolve to overcome adversity and build a brighter future for all its citizens.
The Geographic and Socio-Political Context Affecting WASH
The geographic and socio-political characteristics of South Sudan present several challenges for managing Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) data:
According to a report by UNICEF, 59% of the population in South Sudan lacks access to safe water and just 10 % of the population have access to improved sanitation
The country's complex geography and persistent socio-political instability create substantial obstacles to ensuring reliable access to clean water and adequate sanitation. The country's vast and often inaccessible terrains make monitoring and maintaining water points and sanitation systems difficult. In many cases, organizations have to fly their staff long distances by plane to monitor water points, which tends to be very costly. Additionally, poor network and internet connectivity, especially outside the capital city of Juba, further complicates data collection and management efforts. These challenges often result in incomplete data capture, leading to gaps that can hinder informed decision-making and timely interventions.
Many regions' remote and conflict-prone nature exacerbates these challenges, making effective data management and monitoring essential for ensuring reliable access to clean water and sanitation facilities a problem.
The primary WASH challenges in South Sudan revolve around the availability, accessibility, and quality of water and sanitation services. The centralized and often informal nature of water point management results in data gaps, making monitoring and maintaining these crucial resources difficult. Traditional data collection methods are frequently inefficient, prone to inaccuracies, and unable to provide real-time insights necessary for prompt decision-making and intervention.
The Role of mWater
To address these issues and in the quest to embrace technology and innovation in Save the Children International humanitarian programming, Save the Children International South Sudan secured funding from LIFTLAB for innovation in the WASH program to pilot the Real-time Monitoring System of WASH facilities using the mWater platform. This was proposed as a solution to enhance the management and monitoring of critical WASH infrastructures such as boreholes and toilets, particularly in remote and emergency contexts of South Sudan. In collaboration with GLOFORD Uganda and the mWater Foundation, we initiated a pilot project aimed at enhancing the management of WASH infrastructure through a robust, data-driven management platform using the mWater digital tool. The pilot started with training that took place from July 1st to July 5th, 2024 and involved comprehensive training sessions designed to equip local WASH technicians, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) experts, and field data officers with the skills needed to use the mWater platform for data collection and management effectively.
Our approach to the pilot training
mWater’s approach to this pilot started with developing a comprehensive data collection tool for point sources into the mWater platform. This included discussing the components and design of the tools, localizing them to the context of South Sudan, and pretesting the question to fit the needs of the local communities.
After the tool discussions, the focus shifted to fostering local data management skills through four-day in-person training sessions. This knowledge transfer to local sector experts, we believe, has enabled them to provide necessary support and further training to other field staff, communities entities, and development collaborators and bolstered their confidence in embarking on digital data collection
Capacity building of the SCISSD team on mWater
The training methodology involved a blend of theoretical instruction, practical exercises, group discussions, and hands-on experience to ensure comprehensive understanding and skill development. Detailed presentations were conducted on mWater features, functionalities, and benefits, accompanied by live demonstrations of the mWater App and Portal.
Interactive sessions were held on survey design, data collection, and data management, with group activities and discussions to foster collaboration and shared learning. Practical exercises and simulations were conducted to apply learning in real-world scenarios, along with guided practice sessions for data collection and validation.
Practical Aspects of Training
Participants conducted sample data collection exercises in a controlled environment to reinforce training concepts. These practical exercises allowed trainees to apply their newly acquired skills in a realistic but manageable setting, ensuring they fully understood the functionalities and capabilities of the mWater platform before moving into more challenging and hard-to-reach areas of South Sudan.
Following the controlled environment exercises, the training progressed to supervised fieldwork on Day 3. Trainees collected real data from 2 WASH facilities using the mWater technology. This hands-on experience was crucial for solidifying their understanding and proficiency in using the platform. Under the guidance of experienced trainers, participants were able to address any challenges in real-time and refine their data collection techniques accordingly.
This combination of controlled environment practice and supervised fieldwork ensured that all participants were well-prepared to use mWater effectively in remote, hard to reach, and conflict-prone regions of South Sudan.
““The training was really good from the first day up to the end; I believe the skills I have gained will help us improve WASH data accuracy,””
““The mWater training has helped me to explore data and I learned the technique of linking sites to surveys perfectly even in areas with very poor internet,” ”
Key Features of the mWater Platform that make it ideal for this context
The mWater platform offers several features that make it an ideal solution for managing WASH infrastructure in the South Sudan context:
The mWater platform comprises a free mobile app for data collection that works on and offline, which means that data can be collected even in areas with poor connectivity and a central data portal where data can be cleaned, reported, and shared. The platform is built on a relational database and is centrally organized by geographic sites, which are points of permanent infrastructure. This means Sites can be mapped once and updated over time with surveys without necessarily traveling to the remote site location so that longitudinal monitoring is possible. Over time, these data are used to build maps, dashboards, and consoles with charts, tables, graphs, and text. This can be created in real-time as the data is collected. This capability allows users to transform complex data into understandable visual formats without the need for advanced or highly skilled human resources and expensive subscription software. Moreover, the mWater platform is designed to be accessible even to those with limited technical expertise.
Geospatial Mapping and Visualization:
The platform's ability to map and visualize water points and infrastructure on an interactive dashboard provides a clear overview of the WASH landscape. This functionality aids in identifying areas with critical needs and planning interventions effectively.
The mWater platform can also be customized to fit South Sudan's local context. This includes developing tailored survey tools and data validation procedures to ensure the accuracy and reliability of collected data in the regional context.
Progress and Future Steps
The project's initial phase involved developing a data collection tool for point data source monitoring, training WASH and MEAL teams, and initiating data collection from critical water points. The project will continue involving real users and communities in testing and refining the tools and dashboards through rapid prototyping and iteration.
This method will ensure that the mWater platform evolves to meet the needs of its users, enhancing the resilience and efficacy of WASH infrastructures and achieving the overall goal of improving WASH systems and access to clean and safe water for communities in South Sudan
Conclusion
The integration of digital tools like mWater into WASH management practices represents a significant step towards overcoming the challenges posed by South Sudan's complex geography and socio-political context. By harnessing the power of real-time data and geospatial visualization, stakeholders can ensure more efficient resource allocation, improved infrastructure maintenance, and ultimately, better access to clean water and sanitation for all
The successful implementation of the pilot sets a strong foundation for scaling the use of mWater across organizations, ministries, and the central government in Juba.
As South Sudan continues to navigate its developmental path along the technological lane, the journey towards a more sustainable and resilient WASH infrastructure is well underway, promising a brighter future for the communities of South Sudan.