Preparing for the Storm: Emergency shelters shield Sudanese refugees from looming rains in South Sudan thanks to KSrelief support

When the rainy season starts, it is a moment of worry for displaced families in South Sudan. The first heavy drops are not just a change in weather, but a stark reminder of how fragile life can be. For people living in makeshift shelters, rain means flooded floors, soaked bedding, and a renewed risk of disease. In the past, floods have swept through entire refugee communities, destroyed what little infrastructure existed, and left thousands exposed to the elements.

Al-Daw Daud Dafallah, who fled from Sudan, remembers the day he arrived in South Sudan after fleeing conflict in Sudan - a crisis now entering its third year. Despite initially being separated from his family at a refugee reception center in the Upper Nile region, they finally reunited when they moved to their new shelter. At reception centers and in refugee settlements, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, provides displaced families with core relief items such as mosquito nets, blankets, and plastic sheets.

Al-Daw is thankful for the emergency shelter that gave his family a fresh start. Like many refugees, using the plastic sheeting as a base, he and his family gathered local materials like poles, grass and mud to reinforce their shelter, adding thicker walls and a raised floor to keep water out and their belongings dry.

“We have added a personal and permanent touch to our shelter using a combination of the plastic sheeting we received and local resources like poles and mud. This has given my family safety, dignity, and is a signal of the beginning of a new life here in South Sudan. With the rainy season coming, I feel safer unlike in the past years,” said Al-Daw.

The need for shelter is urgent, especially as the rainy season threatens to undo the hard-won progress made by UNHCR in creating safer communities for refugees and returnees displaced by the conflict in Sudan. Over the past years, heavy rains and floods have repeatedly destroyed shelters, cut off access to basic services, and made daily survival even harder for those who have already been displaced. A well-built shelter protects families against the elements, preserves health, and restores a sense of dignity and normalcy.

“Adequate shelter is not just a roof over one’s head - it is a vital survival mechanism for people forced to flee, especially in South Sudan where the rainy season brings life-threatening floods and disease,” says Bala Sandare, Associate Settlement Planning Officer. “Shelter means families can stay together, children can go to school, and people can start to heal and look forward,” adds Bala.

With the generous support of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), UNHCR has delivered critical assistance to those that need it most. In 2024, KSrelief and UNHCR signed a US$ 4 million agreement to support displaced people in Sudan, Chad, and South Sudan. Thanks to this funding, emergency family shelters and communal shelters have been constructed, and core relief items have been distributed to nearly ten thousand individuals in transit centers and settlements in Upper Nile and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states, South Sudan.

As the Sudan crisis enters its third year, the needs remain immense. More than 13 million people have been forced to flee their homes, and over a million have crossed into South Sudan. The rainy season has begun its first showers, with heavier rains inevitably approaching. But for families like Al-Daw’s, the support of UNHCR and funding from KS Relief means they can face the wet weather with greater safety, dignity, and hope.