In late 2020, South Sudan faced one of its worst flooding events in decades, with vast areas of Jonglei State, particularly Pibor County, submerged after months of heavy seasonal rains. The floods affected an estimated 856,000 people, destroying homes, livestock, and crops, and further compounding an already fragile humanitarian situation marked by food insecurity, intercommunal violence, and limited infrastructure. Entire communities became accessible only by air, as roads disappeared under water, severely constraining the ability of humanitarian organisations to respond.
To support the scale-up of operations in this highly isolated and insecure environment, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) requested assistance through the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP). In response, Luxembourg supported the deployment of “light base camp” service packages, designed to rapidly create operational hubs for humanitarian actors in the flood-affected areas.
Luxembourg facilitated the procurement, packing, and air shipment of four to six modular camp units, transporting them to Juba airport, from where IOM organised onward airlifts into Pibor, which was only accessible by air due to complete road inaccessibility. Each package was designed to provide safe accommodation and office space for 40 to 60 aid workers, including dedicated workspace for coordination teams.
Luxembourg also provided technical logistics support, training, and handover assistance, ensuring that the installations were not only deployed quickly but could be effectively used and maintained by humanitarian teams on site.
The camps were set up in a highly volatile environment, operating under UN security Phase 4 conditions, with ongoing risks linked to intercommunal violence, including clashes and ambushes. Despite these constraints, the modular base camps enabled humanitarian organisations—including UNICEF, Oxfam, MSF, and ICRC—to maintain a permanent operational presence closer to affected populations.
