Twic Eastland Resettlement Program
A multi-year development initiative led by the Resource Mobilisation Management Committee (RMMC-AUS) to deliver health, education, and infrastructure support in Twic East County.
Twic East County is one of the 79 counties in South Sudan. It is situated in Jonglei State in the Upper Nile region and is inhabited by the Twic East Community which comprises of five Payams: Pakeer, Ajuong, Nyuak, Kongor, and Lith Payams. Apart from the current inhabitants of Twic East County, Twi East citizens have been scattered across the world, with the majority living in Australia, the USA, Canada, and smaller populations in Europe, the Middle East, and other countries globally. Other members live in refugee camps in Kenya and Uganda, and internally displaced people within South Sudan reside in Awerial County and the Central Equatorial region.
Over the last four years since December 2019, Twic East County has been inundated with flooding, which has destroyed the core livelihoods of the inhabitants, including agricultural farming, such as crop cultivation and cattle rearing, health facilities, educational facilities, and transportation systems. Despite some small dry areas in the county, Panyagoor has now become the main island where people reside and is under threat of being submerged by water. People have been protecting it with dyking, which has proven unsustainable. This flood has been described as one of the highest not witnessed by Twic East County and has surpassed the flooding of 1963, described as ‘aboor de run de paweer’.
To address this, the Twic East Community Leadership in Juba, headed by the late Amb. Lt. Gen. Bior Ajang Duot, called a Global Conference held between 10th and 13th March 2024, in Twic East County Headquarters, Panyangoor. The conference focused on the slogan ‘Building a Stronger Community Together’. It was attended by numerous Twic East County global leaders and citizens from across the world. In this conference, numerous resolutions were proposed, agreed upon, and signed by all leaders. One of the major resolutions was the Eastland project, the fundamental ideology behind which is to relocate Twic East Communities to higher grounds in Eastland, less prone to flooding.
After the passing of the able chairman, the late Amb. Lt. Gen. Bior Ajang, on 13th August 2024, the Twic East Communities were deeply affected by this incident. However, due to the resilience of the community, Hon. Gen. Biar Mading Biar was confirmed as the chairman of the Twi East Community Association – Juba, to carry out the leadership and implement the proposed resolutions.
In October 2024, the Twic East Community Association of Australia was invited by Gen. Biar and his leadership to participate in resource mobilisation to fund and implement the Eastland project. TECAA has consulted with its stakeholders, such as States and Payams leaders. These leaders have given the TECAA a sole responsibility to design and implement the project to success.
TECAA has been approached by other members of the community, such as TERI/CRADA, a group known to the Twic East community for their presentation of their mission and vision addressing current issues affecting the county, especially the relocation of its communities to Eastland, which is less prone to flooding, at the Global Conference held in Panyangoor. TECAA has accepted this group to assist in the mobilisation of resources and their ideas for the successful implementation of the project. This project aims to mobilise resources from the Twic East Community members in Australia. The project is proposed to be conducted over three months, commencing from the starting date. The outline of this project, including vision/mission, participants, and committees, will be detailed in the subsequent sections.
Vision:
To establish resettlements in Twic Eastlands higher ground areas, which are less prone to flooding.
Mission:
To mobilise funds and resources for the Twic Eastland Resettlement Project.
Objectives:
1. To raise funds for the project.
2. To mobilise all members of the Twic East community, friends, and neighbours to support the resettlement project.
3. To liaise with service providers (local and international organisations, NGOs) and government authorities to find lasting solutions for the unending flooding of Twi East County.
4. To address the ongoing poor health threat to the Twic East people.
5. To address the educational needs of the Twic East people.
6. To address transportation access to Twic East.
7. To repatriate the internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees of Twic East County back to their homeland.
8. To attract Twic East residents, such as those living in big cities and neighbouring countries, to return home.
Strength/Weakness/Opportunities/Threats:
The Strength:
The strength of this resource mobilisation campaign relies heavily on the population of Twic East in Australia. The current momentum, with the love for Twic East County from all members, will be the prominent point of hope. There has been widespread interest among Twic East people in Australia to find solutions to the ongoing disasters affecting Twic East County since the Twic East Global Conference in Panyagoor. The slogan, “Acii Twi Lueel,” has been vibrant in people's ears since the conference. We are hopeful that there will be another vibrant slogan during this campaign, such as “Abii Twi Looi’’ or “Acii Twi Looi’’ at the end of this fundraising.
The Weakness:
The only weakness is that the Twic East Community of Australia has a younger generation who grew up without knowing Twic East County in South Sudan. The participation of Twic East young adults will be a challenge for the fundraising committees. Their recruitment process will be full of challenges, as their participation in community activities is always not easy.
Opportunities:
The success opportunity we currently have is to minimise our demands and keep them as low as $150-300 per person. We should keep it as affordable as possible.
Threat:
The threat to this project can be minimally related to current socio-economic factors such as inflation but is not expected to inflict major effects on the fundraising in general. The fundraising will also be too close to Christmas and the opening of the school year for those who have scholars overseas.
The main threat that is highly expected is the potential for those who usually pose negative challenges to developmental projects within the community.
Roles and Responsibilities of TECAA Leadership:
1. To oversee the activities of the Resources Mobilisation Management Committee (RMMC).
2. Liaise with TECA-Juba on the development of the project.
3. Report monetary funds to TECA-Juba once the fundraiser is concluded.
4. Report to the community and provide a transparent report once the fundraiser is concluded, upon receipt of the audit results.
5. Present the fundraising outcomes to the community in conjunction with the RMMC.
6. Oversee the fundraising development of the RMC at the state/territory level.
7. Help nominate and form the Resources Mobilisation Committee (RMC) in all states/territories.
8. To declare the closure of the Resources Mobilisation bank account and dissolve the committee.
Responsibilities and rights of members:
1. All members shall have the right to pay their contribution during this fundraising.
2. Shall support the fundraising vision, mission, and objectives.
3. Make proposals to the TECAA, RMMC, or RMC committee on how the fundraising could be improved.
4. Shall be appointed to the committee within the state or Payams and assigned responsibilities when the committee sees fit.
5. Shall protect the integrity and reputation of the Resource Mobilisation Campaign Committees.
6. Shall respect and abide by this Resource Mobilisation Framework, respect the by-laws, and adhere to subsequent resolutions and decisions of the Steering Committees.
7. Pay his or her dues as required under the rules stipulated in the Resource Mobilisation Framework.
8. This project is voluntary; hence, it is a call to all Twi members and their families.
9. People are prohibited from spreading misinformation and conspiracies about this project.
10. People are prohibited from mobilising others not to support the project.
11. You may opt out as an individual.
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