Integrated Solutions in Action

How investing in health supports people and the planet

July 8, 2026

Investments in health systems are improving access to essential services while delivering broader benefits for communities.

Photo: UNDP South Sudan/Michael Mubangizi

In South Sudan, the seeds of human development are sown in some of the most challenging places. The Gumbo area near Juba, once abandoned, now hosts the Riverside Warehouse.

“We were pioneers in an empty field,” said Henry Dima, a long-time health supply chain assistant at Riverside Warehouse, Gumbo. “The nearest houses were two kilometres away.”

Henry Dima has worked at the Riverside Warehouse, Gumbo since its earliest days and helped expand the delivery of essential medicines and medical supplies countrywide.

Photo: UNDP South Sudan/Michael Mubangizi

Led by the Ministry of Health, the facility reliably supplies hospitals with medicines, medical oxygen and health products, including access to treatment for over 100,000 people living with HIV (88,422) and tuberculosis (29,344). It addresses a critical need: South Sudan has one of the highest rates of preventable death in the world and most health facilities lack basic medicines, reliable power or cold storage.

The warehouse's impact goes far beyond human health. Through a partnership between the Ministry of Health, UNDP, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the warehouse also supports local employment, community improvements and environmental protection, while strengthening health system performance.

It is living proof that investing in people’s health through integrated, multisectoral solutions can also advance prosperity and build resilience simultaneously.

Besides managing health products, the Riverside Warehouse supplies medical oxygen, which supports pandemic preparedness and critical care like surgery.

Photo: UNDP South Sudan/Michael Mubangizi

Decent jobs and livelihoods

Besides Dima, 18 workers (9 staff members and 9 casual labourers) including pharmacists and supply chain assistants manage daily operations at the warehouse, including storage, distribution and oxygen production. They have also supported 35 pharmacy interns with hands-on training in pharmaceutical warehousing, with many interns proceeding to operate their own pharmacies. And country-wide, 300 frontline workers are supported with tools like mSupply, an open-source digital supply chain management system that oversees medicine distributions to over 70 percent of health facilities.

Riverside Warehouse has provided internships to 35 pharmacy graduates, supporting the next generation of health workers.

Photo: UNDP South Sudan/Michael Mubangizi

Community benefits

The warehouse did not just transform health supply—it changed the neighbourhood around it. Security measures on the premises have improved local safety, encouraging more residents to settle in the area. New boreholes have provided over 200 households with access to clean water—replacing 40-minute journeys to the White Nile during the dry season. With improving road infrastructure, small shops, restaurants and lodges have opened, many managed by women serving customers travelling to Bor.

The warehouse has helped transform both health supply chain management and the local community in Gumbo, South Sudan.

Photo: UNDP South Sudan/Michael Mubangizi

Environmental protection

Since 2022, warehouse workers have been equipped with infrastructure and training to safely dispose pharmaceutical waste—diverting it from landfills.

That same year, a new solar energy system became the main power source at Riverside, including for cold chain equipment. The system has improved operational reliability and reduced dependency on polluting diesel generators.

Overall, UNDP has supported 22 clean energy systems at health facilities nationally, which produce 3.17 million kWh of electricity and avoid 2,433 tonnes of CO2 per year. As part of sustainability planning, UNDP supported the Ministry of Health to assess options for the future funding, oversight and upkeep of these energy systems in 2025, with an implementation roadmap forthcoming.

Solar energy ensures the Riverside Warehouse remains operational day or night, and powers data, security and climate control systems used to manage medical supplies.

Photo: UNDP South Sudan/Michael Mubangizi

Operational efficiencies

Solar energy also powers IT systems capturing digital health data, which is integrated with mSupply to anticipate supply needs. At Riverside, upgraded facilities and technologies have scaled-up operations considerably.

“Back then, we handled just a handful of medicines for HIV, TB and malaria. The space was tiny and our reach was even smaller,” Dima recalled.

When it opened in 2012, Riverside replaced an older property in Thongpiny, reducing annual rent by US$240,000 and tripling storage capacity. In addition to cost savings, the new warehouse recorded a value throughput of 92 percent most recently in March 2026, indicating efficient supply chain management that prevented product expiry and waste.

Today, additional Gavi investment is supporting the health ministry to expand dry storage, cold chain capacities and site security to scale-up access to vaccines nationally. The ongoing construction complements work supported by UNICEF and the World Health Organization to create an integrated and more efficient health supply chain from central to local levels.

mSupply, a digital supply chain management system, ensures medical inventory is dispatched on time to health facilities and communities.

Photo: UNDP South Sudan/Michael Mubangizi

Investing in integrated solutions

What started as a small storage space has evolved into a vast logistics and community hub. While primarily designed to strengthen national health capacity and pandemic preparedness, Riverside also increases partner coordination, protects the environment and improves livelihoods.

As countries like South Sudan face mounting pressure to sustain health services and development, the Riverside Warehouse demonstrates the value of investing in integrated solutions that multiply benefits. Countries and partners looking to replicate this model should start where Riverside did—with a government-led facility, long-term commitment and the patience to let community benefits follow.

South Sudan shows it is possible, even in the hardest conditions.