What I will learn

  • Sustainable development.
  • Ways of achieving sustainable development
  • How to manage the impact of natural disasters?
  • About the challenges of sustainable development

What I will do

  • Investigate different contexts for sustainable development.
  • Explore the impact of natural disasters on the environment and how this is managed.
  • Evaluate strategies for managing the impact of natural disasters.
  • Explore and illustrate everyday activities that support sustainable development.
The meaning of sustainable development

Sustainable development refers to development strategies that meet current development needs without negatively impacting development needs of future generation.

These Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were laid down in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on ending poverty.

Certain strategies are required to ensure that there is sustainability in the environment.

These include:

  • Enactment of environmental laws which will regulate how people use land and consequences of environmental degradation.
  • Exploration on how to tap and use green energy. Green energy comes from natural sources of energy. These include:
  • Solar power- generated from the sun.
  • Wind power- generated from fast moving wind.
  • Geothermal energy- power from hot springs.
  • Hydro power- from the moving water.
Goals of achieving sustainable development

As we have mentioned earlier, sustainable development has been applied in policy formulation and implementation in various sectors of the economy.

The goals include;

  • Scaling up nutrition among the children and people through educating parents on appropriate hygiene.
  • Ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all by preventing diseases at early stages through vaccination.
  • Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting life-long learning opportunities for all.
  • Promoting gender equality and women empowerment through creation of jobs for women and controlling early marriages.
  • Promoting availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
  • Promotion of a sustained and all-inclusive economic growth, full and productive employment and descent work for all people.
  • Building of good infrastructure and ensuring inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation.
  • Promoting environmental protection through sustainable use of natural resources, combating desertification and controlling land degradation.

A forest on Mount Kinyeti, the highest peak in South Sudan.

  • Promoting equality within different states and between South Sudan and other countries.
  • Making South Sudan cities and urban areas habitable through ending urban crime and social problems.
  • Promoting peaceful, just and inclusive society in South Sudan.

Activity 12.1

Group work

  • In your groups, give the goals of achieving sustainable development
  • Share the group work with the rest of the class members.
The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), 2005-2014

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) refers to inclusion of sustainable development issues into teaching and learning in a more participatory fashion that motivates and empowers learners to change their behaviours and take action for sustainable development.

Education for sustainable development promotes competencies like critical thinking, imagination and decision-making for future generations.

In 2005, the United Nations launched the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) as a result of long process of international consultation and deliberation on the sustainable development models.

The objectives of Decade of Education for Sustainable Development included:

  • To improve quality of education at all levels for sustainable development.
  • To reorient education at all levels for sustainable development.
  • To enhance public understanding and awareness of sustainable development.
  • To build capacity for sustainable development.

Strategies for DESD

Some of the strategies the government of South Sudan has laid down are:

  • Improving the competence of teachers.
  • Improving the learning environment and setting.
  • Improvement of the mode(s) of learning and teaching assessment.
  • Making policies on culture and language and promoting equality.
The impact of DESD on shaping public opinion, school curriculum and government policies

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has presented a chance for countries around the world to incorporate a culture that is respectful to the principles of Sustainable Development.

ESD has brought far reaching changes to the way education functions in the modern society.

The implementation of DESD has had the following effects:

  • It has led to enhanced advocacy and vision building through public sensitisation by the government, private sector and civil organisation.
  • It has enhanced local and international partnership and networking for resource mobilisation and co-operation. This has provided a platform for dissemination of information on sustainable development.
  • It has led to the development of infrastructure, especially resource centres and libraries to contribute to awareness.
  • It has led to intensification of capacity training and building to improve sustainable development skills among the people. For example, UNESCO has helped different countries to train trainers on sustainable development.
  • It has promoted research and innovation in different areas of the economy, for example, use of renewable energy.
  • It has improved ICT infrastructure like E-learning in schools.
  • It has improved quality and equitable education through improved accessibility to education.
  • It has led to constant review of the curricula in both primary, secondary and tertiary education
  • Natural disasters
The meaning of natural disasters
Activity 12.2
Group work
Q. In groups, discuss examples of natural disasters that have affected the people of South Sudan.

A natural disaster refers to a harmful event resulting from a natural process and which can lead to destruction of property and loss of lives.

South Sudan has experienced the following natural disasters. These include;

Out breaks of diseases such as; measles, malaria. cholera and Covid 19

floods,

earthquakes,

droughts

famine

and other geological processes.

The Aweil Floods in South Sudan.

Management of the impact of natural disasters

Natural disaster management refers to organisation of resources and responsibilities to deal with the effects of disasters.

Activity 12.3

Group work

In your groups, discuss possible ways that can be used to manage the effects of natural disasters.

Some of disaster management measures include:

  • Training of disaster management personnel responsible for decision making during disasters.
  • Use of drilling exercises in preparation and public awareness for predictable hazards.
  • Establishment of a communication policy during disasters.
  • Setting up good evacuation plans during disasters.
  • Use of effective equipment like fire extinguishers during fire outbreaks.
  • Setting up sustainable funding plans and mechanisms for disasters.
Effective day to day strategies for protecting the environment
  • Tree planting
  • Recycling waste products
  • Conserving the water bodies
  • Using green energy
  • Protect wet lands to restore the eco system

Activity 12.4

Group work

  1. Q. Identify and discuss some of the effective strategies that can be used to protect the environment.
Challenges facing the implementation of sustainable development strategies in South Sudan
  • Climatic change
  • Environmental degradation
  • Pollution
  • Resources depletion
  • Increasing poverty levels
  • Food security problems
  • Population growth
  • Insufficient funding
  • Political instability
  • Inadequate governance

Activity 12.5

Pair work

  • In pairs, what would you cite as the challenges facing implementation of sustainable development in South Sudan?
Glossary
  • Disaster–A harmful event that can lead to loss of lives and

destruction of property.

  • Public opinion–The popular view emanating from citizens.
  • Natural resources –Raw materials that exist within a particular place.
  • Eco-system–A system formed by interaction of a community of

organisms.

  • Advocacy–Creating knowledge or awareness among the citizens.
  • Capacity building –Improving the capability of the human resources to

perform various tasks.

  • Climate change–An increase in the average temperature of the earth’s

atmosphere due to global warming.

  • Bio-diversity–A diversity of plants and animal life in a particular

habitat.

  • Renewable energy –Energy that can be used for a long time without getting

depleted.

Modifié le: lundi 12 janvier 2026, 17:12