Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management 2010 2 1

doi: 10.3850/S179392402009000350

Redevelopment of Inland Water Transport for Post-conflict Reconstruction in Southern Sudan

Mikio Ishiwatari Japan International Cooperation Agency 5-25, Niban-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8012, Japan. ishiwatarimikio@yahoo.co.jp

ABSTRACT

Transport infrastructure redevelopment is needed in a post-conflict period to smoothly resettle people displaced by armed conflict and to handle the increased flow of goods and people. Through the examination of development assistance projects in Southern Sudan following a conflict, it was found that inland water transport (IWT) plays a crucial role in post-conflict reconstruction, and that IWT can expand serviceswith limited inputmore easily than road transport. Also, this study reviews redevelopment of IWT for disastermanagement in Japan by applying lessons learned from relief and rehabilitation activities during the Kobe earthquake. These are different from the widespread perception that IWT is a minor mode of transportation because of its disadvantages compared with land transport in time and network scales. The study further discusses the challenges of capacity development for new government agencies established following conflicts, which have quite limited capacities for managing facilities.

Keywords: Inland water transport, Peacebuilding, Sudan, Post-conflict reconstruction.

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