Features
Recycled bottles, reclaimed lives: A shelter innovation from South Sudan
“This opportunity will change lives,” says Gatluak, a South Sudanese father whose new home in Bentiu Town is currently being built from discarded plastic bottles.
After years of displacement, he sees this move not just as a return home, but as a new beginning — one built with his own hands and with materials once seen as waste.
“People used to throw these bottles along the roads,” he says. “Now, they’re part of our homes — they’re cooler, stronger, and resistant to termites.”
In South Sudan, where communities face the twin crises of displacement and environmental strain, a powerful question is emerging:
What if plastic waste, once seen only as trash, could help build a safer, more sustainable future?
This year’s World Environment Day calls on us to #BeatPlasticPollution. In Bentiu, a town in South Sudan scarred by years of conflict and flooding, displaced communities are answering that call by turning trash into shelter.
A Crisis of Shelter — and of Sustainability
Bentiu is home to one of the largest displacement camps in South Sudan, where over 130,000 people live in temporary shelters that are often fragile, overcrowded, and vulnerable to extreme weather. While traditional shelters rely on tarpaulin and wooden poles, even more permanent housing solutions typically require large quantities of timber — placing additional pressure on already strained forest resources.
In an effort to reduce deforestation and promote waste reuse, communities are now experimenting with an alternative: using discarded plastic bottles as filler materials within more durable shelter designs. This innovation doesn’t eliminate the need for wood entirely, but it significantly reduces it while giving new life to plastic waste that would otherwise clutter the environment.
The Innovation: Bottle Bricks and Community-Led Solutions
In collaboration with engineers from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), community members in Bentiu have piloted a low-cost, environmentally sustainable shelter design using discarded plastic bottles. Combined with locally sourced materials such as bamboo, elephant grass, and compacted earth, the shelters are designed to resist the seasonal floods that regularly affect Rubkona County. Elevated stilt or mound foundations protect from water damage, while roofs made of locally sourced grass thatch shield the walls from rain. The result is a flood-resilient, climate-adapted home that’s both affordable and environmentally conscious.
A closer look at the approach:
· Thousands of discarded plastic bottles are filled with sand or soil and tightly packed.
· These “bottle bricks” are layered and secured with mud or clay, forming sturdy, insulated walls.
· Minimal timber is needed, replacing costly imported materials with what is already on the ground.
· The shelters stay cooler during Bentiu’s scorching summers and better withstand heavy rains compared to many conventional temporary structures.
· Designed with a modular, incremental approach, each home starts with a core structure that families can expand over time, allowing for affordable growth that adapts to changing needs.
· The housing models provided are not one-size-fits-all. Drawing from local materials and community knowledge, households receive conditional cash for housing construction, allowing them to choose between gabled and hipped roof structures using wattle and daub, bamboo, papyrus, or plastic bottle walls. Each option is cost-effective, flood-resilient, and adapted to local environmental conditions.
· A key part of the initiative is investing in people — local residents receive hands-on training from IOM in using sustainable materials like plastic bottles and papyrus mats to build durable, disaster-resilient homes.
Gatluak is confident that this construction method will gain traction in Bentiu, transforming local building practices and improving lives. In the nearby oil fields where thousands of daily wage workers are employed, the widespread scattering of plastic bottles presents both a visible challenge and a practical opportunity — offering a readily available, local resource for building resilient homes.
From Camp to Community: A Human Story
Gatluak and his children lived in the Bentiu displacement site for over five years. His previous shelter, like many others, was made of tarpaulin and sticks — leaky during rains, sweltering under the sun, and easily damaged by wind or animals.
However, the decision to move out of the site was not taken lightly. Like thousands of others, he had sought refuge there out of necessity, not choice — driven by years of insecurity and loss. When the opportunity arose to join a pilot relocation programme supported by IOM, Gatluak saw a path forward — one that would allow him to leave the overcrowded camp and return to his area of origin. It offered the possibility of stability and a better future for his children.
Gatluak is among the first to build a permanent home in Bentiu’s new settlement — one designed with climate-conscious features like raised foundations to reduce flooding and walls made from recycled plastic bottles.
Despite challenges such as rising material costs and flood-related shortages, he remains optimistic and emphasizes the value of local materials over imported ones:
“Compared to the plastic sheets we had in the camp, local materials last longer and feel more like home.”
A Pilot for the Future: Relocation with Sustainability at Its Core
Gatluak is one of 20 families participating in IOM’s pilot relocation programme in Bentiu. The initiative moves families from displacement sites into permanent, community-integrated settlements using eco-conscious shelter designs like bottle-brick homes.
Eligibility hinges on voluntariness, land ownership verification, and readiness to leave the camp. Upon verification, each household begins a clearly mapped journey: from initial cash disbursement to foundation laying, and on to roofing, sanitation, water filter training, and eventual livelihood engagement. Through complementary cash-for-work initiatives, participants can also earn income by planting vegetation around their new homes, contributing to greener, more resilient communities.
Each step is supported by trained IOM staff and technical experts who closely monitor progress and offer on-site guidance to every household.
The pilot is not just about relocation; it’s about testing scalable, community-led, and climate-smart solutions that can be used across humanitarian settings in South Sudan and beyond.
“This project proves that innovation doesn’t always come from the top down,” says IOM Shelter and Settlement Programme Coordinator Jue Gao. “The most effective solutions often come from those who are directly affected — and deeply motivated to change their own circumstances.”
What the World Can Learn from Bentiu
Plastic pollution is a global crisis, but solutions are often local.
From displaced camp resident to homeowner building with discarded plastic — Gatluak’s journey embodies this shift. Empowering displaced communities to transform waste into walls not only addresses urgent shelter needs and promotes sustainable materials but also fosters a strong sense of ownership and dignity.
This shelter model represents more than a physical structure. It signifies a fundamental change in approach — moving from temporary solutions to durable housing, and from viewing plastic as waste to recognizing it as a valuable resource. Most importantly, it marks a transition from displaced families being passive recipients of assistance to becoming active drivers of innovation and change in their own communities.
The United Nations has announced a new set of senior appointments to the leadership of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), with Secretary-General António Guterres naming Tressa Rae Finerty as Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Antón Leis García as Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, and Edem Wosornu as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.
The appointments, announced on Saturday, are expected to take effect in the coming weeks.
The three officials will occupy the most senior positions within UNHCR, supporting the High Commissioner in leading the agency’s global response to the protection and assistance of refugees, stateless persons and other people forced to flee their homes.
Welcoming the appointments, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih expressed confidence that the incoming officials would strengthen the agency’s response to the growing global displacement crisis.
“I warmly welcome these appointments and look forward to working closely with Tressa, Anton and Edem,” Salih said.
“Their leadership, experience and commitment will be invaluable as UNHCR responds to displacement challenges around the world. Together, we will work to continue strengthening protection, expanding opportunities for self-reliance and pursuing lasting solutions that help refugees rebuild their lives with dignity.”
Finerty, a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, currently serves as Chargé d’Affaires at the United States Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva. She previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Geneva and Deputy Executive Secretary in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of State. Her diplomatic career has also included postings at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York and embassies in Malaysia, Iraq, Armenia and Thailand. In addition, she has taught refugee policy at New York University and Georgetown University.
Leis García currently heads the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Spain’s development and humanitarian agency. He has previously held senior positions at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Office of the President of the Spanish Government, and international financial institutions including the African Development Bank and the World Bank Group.
Wosornu currently serves as Director of the Crisis Response Division at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and chairs the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Emergency Directors Group. She has held several senior headquarters and field positions within OCHA and began her United Nations career as an intern at UNHCR before working in the private legal sector in the United Kingdom.
The newly appointed officials will replace Kelly T. Clements, Deputy High Commissioner; Raouf Mazou, Assistant High Commissioner for Operations; and Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, whose terms are coming to an end.
Paying tribute to the outgoing leaders, Salih praised their contributions to the agency’s humanitarian mission.
“The organization owes a profound debt of gratitude to Kelly, Raouf and Ruven for their exceptional service and dedication,” he said. “Their leadership has strengthened UNHCR’s ability to protect and assist millions of displaced and stateless people around the world.”
The final batch of 40 stranded Nigerians evacuated from South Africa has arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, bringing to a close the Federal Government’s evacuation exercise that returned a total of 1,174 citizens.
The returnees landed on Friday night aboard a chartered Air Peace flight, marking the sixth and final phase of the evacuation programme.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abdur-Rahman Balogun, said the exercise was carried out through six flights operated by Air Peace and ValueJet.
According to the commission, the first five batches brought home 258, 266, 262, 282 and 66 Nigerians, while the final chartered Air Peace flight evacuated the remaining 40 stranded citizens.
Balogun said the returnees expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu for approving the evacuation from South Africa. They also thanked the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Acting Nigerian Ambassador to South Africa, Temitope Alexander-Ajayi, and NiDCOM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, for facilitating their safe return.
The evacuees were received at the airport by NiDCOM officials, who also announced a series of support packages from government agencies, corporate organisations and individuals.
According to the statement, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State approved a grant of N1 million for each returnee from the state. Telecommunications company MTN also donated free SIM packs with N50,000 worth of data and pledged to credit each returnee’s bank account with N100,000.
Officials from the Edo and Delta State governments similarly announced assistance for their indigenes among the evacuees.
The commission added that the JAAL Foundation pledged empowerment support for 50 female returnees, while the General Overseer of Omega Power Ministries Worldwide, Apostle Dr Chibuzor Gift Chinwe, was commended for providing free accommodation for about 52 returnees, skills acquisition opportunities for their families and free education for their children up to university level.
The returnees also acknowledged Pastor Bolaji Idowu of Harvesters Church for donating N100,000 each to 66 evacuees, while real estate firm Cruxstone provided financial support to the first batch of returnees.
Balogun said officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and other security agencies were present at the airport to receive and document the returnees.
“The returnees were full of gratitude for the donations, support and warm welcome received,” the statement said.
The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, and the UN Migration Agency, IOM have welcomed the entry into force today of the European Union’s Pact on Migration and Asylum as an opportunity to move beyond crisis-driven responses and implement a more predictable, fair and effective approach to the issues across Europe.
EU Member States should seize this moment to strengthen migration management and refugee protection while advancing solidarity and responsibility-sharing in line with European values and international obligations, the agencies’ chiefs said.
“The Pact’s entry into full effect today is an important step toward a more predictable and coherent European migration system. What matters now is steady implementation over time that is effective, humane, sustainably resourced and grounded in cooperation,” said Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration. “The priority is turning the reforms into practical results for States, communities, and people on the move.”
The Pact aims to make EU asylum systems more efficient and consistent, offering a structured framework for Member State cooperation. This can reduce backlogs while maintaining the quality of assessments, provide greater certainty for asylum-seekers, and enable refugees to begin rebuilding their lives and contributing to their communities sooner.
“This Pact is an important step in the right direction, advancing shared responsibility and more predictable, sustainable approaches across the European Union,” said Barham Salih, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “UNHCR stands ready to support all Member States in strengthening asylum systems – ensuring access to protection for those in need, upholding human rights and dignity, and enabling safe, lawful and dignified returns for those not in need of international protection.”
IOM and UNHCR welcome the EU’s renewed focus on partnerships with all affected countries. Reducing irregular movements means addressing root causes, ensuring access to protection, tackling smuggling networks, and enabling safe, regular pathways. The organizations will continue to support route-based approaches that ensure policies deliver on protection, dignity and shared responsibility, while contributing to sustainable solutions that benefit both countries and communities along migration routes.
UNHCR and IOM welcome several key elements of the Pact, including earlier identification of people with specific needs, strengthened legal assistance, and new independent monitoring mechanisms at external borders. Returns of those with no legal right to stay must be both effective and humane. Alongside enforcement, they should ensure access to informed voluntary return, early case management, and reintegration support, working with countries of origin, transit and first asylum as part of a balanced approach that upholds dignity and fundamental rights.
These measures can help ensure that asylum processing and return procedures are faster and fairer, reducing uncertainty for asylum-seekers while strengthening public confidence in the migration and asylum system.
UNHCR and IOM stress that implementation will be the decisive test. Procedures must be carried out with adequate safeguards to ensure that no one is returned or transferred to a situation where they may face persecution, conflict or other forms of serious harm.
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