Economics and Environmental Disaster
Letter from Solidarity Executive Director - Fr. Jim Greene, M. Af

Conflict in South Sudan has been in the headlines for decades. We think of civil war, ethnic struggles and stalled peace processes. Sometimes the conflict is very intense, other times it occurs at ‘sub national’ levels, away from the camera lens, but the consequences remain the same. At all times it results in human misery.

Another human conflict often escapes our attention but has catastrophic consequences on the lives of hundreds of thousands, leading to poverty, disease, migration and food shortages. Humans are at war with the environment both in South Sudan and globally, with terrible consequences for this and future generations.

(...)According to the UN, almost one million people were affected by the floods in 2022. About two-thirds of the country is swamped by three years of rising water levels. These waters have swept away homes and livestock, forcing tens of thousands to flee, and inundated large swathes of farmland, worsening an already dire food emergency.

In a country that needs to develop, we are continually forced to provide emergency relief to masses of displaced people, running from environmental devastation.

Solidarity with South Sudan, for its part, cannot change the world. However, we are educating our trainee teachers, nurses and midwives about climate change and encourage small steps to mitigate against this. We are increasing our efforts in teaching sustainable farming techniques, especially in Riimenze. We are encouraging ecological consciousness among religious in the country, by promoting a workshop on Laudato Si and our Common Home.

Read the full Letter from Solidarity Executive Director - Fr. Jim Greene, M. Af

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