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By Daniel Deng Bol (Juba,South Sudan)The Community Development(CD)Department within Dar Petroleum Operating Company(DPOC) operating in South Sudan in cooperation with Ministry of Petroleum and Mining have proposed to implement one year bottled Drinking water project for women estimated at $750,000 in South Sudan, County of Northern Upper Nile state, Melut.
According to the Mr.Ayuel Akoj Malek, Community Development Manager in Dar Petroleum Operating Company, the establishment of drinking water bottling facility at proposed location will enable the local community to make water available and accessible to most people at a lower price than the current retail prices in area as well as creating employment opportunities for many young South Sudanese graduates and skilled laborers in the County and also boost local economy by generating revenues that could be reinvested into various sectors. The project focuses on three key priories including investing in people, equipment,facilities and understanding and strategically positioning resources and assets.
“We focus on three key priority areas: investing in people; equipment and facilities; and understanding and strategically positioning resources and assets”, said Mr.Malek
In a statement seen by the the Forum early this week,he said”The Bottled Drinking Water Project” is aimed at creating employment opportunities for both young men and women in the County and that it would create employment opportunities for about 50 women, both skilled and non-skilled, and enable them to contribute to families’ economic life, literacy,and reverse the current cycle of poverty which is worsening in the area. “Opportunities for employment of young men and women in Melut County, Northern Upper Nile State, are very limited overall. Even though there are activities of the oil industries in the area, these do not offer opportunities for women in the area, as majority do not have the required levels of education and skills”, Malek explained. He said its department mission is to support the community in Melut Basin to benefit through services that improve access to social services, including education and skills development of young men and women, access to safe and clean water.
“Our vision is to be a dependable, reliable water bottling service to the population in Maluth County and Upper Nile State as a whole, and supplying bottled water to corporate clients in the oil and gas industry and construction sector providing such services for production, transportation, storage and distribution of purified and bottled water at reasonable price”, he went on to say
CD Department also focuses on programs that increase economic opportunities, and increase the community’s self-reliance through projects that are catalytic in enabling the community to tap into resources available in the area and alleviate poverty and building sustainable development and protection of the environment for future generations.
CD Department envisions working with the population of as many communities as possible in Maluth County over the long term, as the area would need considerable commitment in time and efforts to improve literacy levels, access to health, clean and safe water, and mitigating the social impact of past and current conflicts.
Adding saying the CD Department would work with people who understand the context of the area, and facilitate the collaborative efforts of the community leaders, women’s groups, and Ministry of Petroleum to achieve its objective.
Meanwhile,the proposed project seeks to work with the Ministry of Petroleum and the communities in Melut County through activities that directly create employment opportunities, and also enable sustainable income generation that would contribute to other social services in the area.
However, Gender relations in South Sudan are shaped by the social and economic realities that followed decades of conflict that led to the country being one of the world’s Least Developed Countries. Given the young country population in which 72% are under 30%, South Sudan has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world: one in seven women will die from childbirth or pregnancy (2054 per 100,000). Infant mortality rates are also extremely high with 75 children per 1000 dying before their first birthday.
He said for the project to be implemented, CD would be required to construct a multi-purpose building, fitted with water purification and bottling, and storage facility, and to upkeep, maintain and continuously improve its operational efficiency to the highest industry standards meeting or exceeding all statutory regulations and laws. In order to succeed with this vision, the project needs to have at its disposal state of the art water purification and bottling facility purposely designed and built for these tasks, employing personnel from the local area with the necessary qualifications, and managed by a group of women and men with a shared commitment to professionalism. And that order the project needs to have at its disposal state of the art water purification and bottling facility purposely designed and built for these tasks, employing personnel from the local area with the necessary qualifications, and managed by a group of women and men with a shared commitment to professionalism, he concluded.
However, Gender relations in South Sudan are shaped by the social and economic realities that followed decades of conflict that led to the country being one of the world’s Least Developed Countries. Given the young country population in which 72% are under 30%, South Sudan has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world: one in seven women will die from childbirth or pregnancy (2054 per 100,000). Infant mortality rates are also extremely high with 75 children per 1000 dying before their first birthday. Education rates are low with 27% of the adult population literate: 40% of men over 15 years compared to 16% of women over 15 years. UNICEF estimates that 70% of children aged 6-17 years have never set foot in school. Gender relations in South Sudan are complex: the roles and responsibilities of women, men, boys and girls are clearly delineated but can and do alter. Women and girls have responsibilities for farming, collecting water and firewood, cooking, cleaning, childcare, and brewing beer. Men and boys have responsibilities as decision-makers for the communities and their families, cattle (boys in particular tend to be cattle-herders), hunting, fishing and charcoal making. In times of crisis, gender roles and responsibilities change to take account of the context, the needs and the different coping strategies families and individuals can put into action. Steps need to be taken to mitigate the harm caused by decades of conflict and missed opportunities. Gender relations do affect the needs, coping strategies, participation and access of women in the economic life of a community. Education and economic empowerment of women have been demonstrated to accelerate overall development of a community in many parts of the world. The CD manager said for the project to be implemented, CD would be required to construct a multi-purpose building, fitted with water purification and bottling, and storage facility, and to upkeep, maintain and continuously improve its operational efficiency to the highest industry standards meeting or exceeding all statutory regulations and laws. In order to succeed with this vision, the project needs to have at its disposal state of the art water purification and bottling facility purposely designed and built for these tasks, employing personnel from the local area with the necessary qualifications, and managed by a group of women and men with a shared commitment to professionalism.
Dar Petroleum Operating Company is a private oil and gas exploration service in South Sudan

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