South Sudan is closing all schools beginning Monday in anticipation of a two-week long heat wave.
The health and education ministries have advised parents to keep their children indoors as temperatures are predicted to rise to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
Heatwave In South Sudan
Residents in parts of the capital, Juba, sweltered without electric fans as the heat caused power outages.
The streets of Juba, which is home to almost 400,000 people, were mostly quiet in the afternoon as local media reported temperatures of 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit).
According to the World Bank’s Climate Change, such heat is unusually early in South Sudan, where temperatures frequently top 43 degrees Celsius throughout the summer months.
The ministries of education, health, and the environment said that all schools would be closed starting Monday owing to “serious health hazards” posed to students.
They warned that any school that remained open during the warning period would have its registration revoked, but the statement issued did not indicate how long schools would be closed.
The ministries stated that they will continue to monitor the situation and inform the public accordingly.
Peter Garang, a resident of the city, Juba, praised the decision. He stated that schools should be connected to the electricity grid to allow for the installation of air conditioners.
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Serious Health Hazard
Yolanda Awel Deng, the health minister, warned the heatwave might last two weeks, with temperatures ranging from 41 to 45 degrees Celsius.
Heatwaves can have an acute impact on large populations for short periods of time, triggering public health emergencies and resulting in excess mortality and cascading socioeconomic impacts such as loss of work capacity and labor productivity, as well as loss of health service delivery capacity.
Awel stated that the national Health Ministry’s disease surveillance section has implemented a mechanism to detect and respond to cases, and that there have already been reports of deaths caused by high heat in South Sudan.
MSF, a medical charity, said that it has witnessed an increase in admissions to one of its facilities since temperatures began to rise.
Joseph Africano Bartel, Undersecretary in the Ministry of Environment, stated that climate change is becoming a global phenomenon, with South Sudan seeing significant temperature swings.
Africano cautioned the public to be cautious of escalating heatwaves in the country.
He asked industrialized countries to reduce emissions, claiming that South Sudan would soon face the consequences of climate change, such as heavy rains, floods, and droughts.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry has issued a warning about the risk of disease and death among adults and children if they are exposed to the extreme heat.
South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest countries, is especially sensitive to climate change, with heat waves occurring but seldom surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
Civil war has plagued the east African country, which has also experienced drought and flooding, making life difficult for citizens.
According to the World Food Programme’s most recent country brief, South Sudan “continues to face a dire humanitarian crisis” as a result of war, economic insecurity, climatic change, and an influx of refugees fleeing the conflict in neighboring Sudan.
It was also said that 818,000 disadvantaged people received food and cash assistance in January.
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