The paper reflects on the practice of good governance in South Sudan, focusing in particular on the forces hindering the fight against corruption in the country. Through data collection, the paper identifies the most common manifestations of corruption in South Sudan society as embezzlement, tribalism, and bribery, which thrive in the context of weak law enforcement system and economic catastrophe. Beyond its analysis, the paper provides recommendations for different stakeholders in the fight against corruption,…

This meta-analysis offers an overview of the literature on governance in South Sudan in the CSRF repository by exploring salient and timely questions for donor-funded programming. These questions focus on  the reason why local governance structures differ in South Sudan and the implications for aid actors; the relations between national, state, and local governance institutions and the implications for state building endeavours; the impacts of conflict and food security induced displacement on governance and the…

Focusing on the governor of Western Bar El Ghazel state, Sarah Cleto, this Situation Update discusses successes and challenges of her administration. Despite her grassroots popularity, members of the opposition are calling for her removal. Attempts to replace Cleto, however, have been stalled by internal power struggles—highlighting the complexities of Western Bahr el Ghazal’s ethnic politics. Read here

On Tuesday, February 21, 2023, the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) issued a Press Statement. It provided an update to the public, the region, and diplomatic community on the status of the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), while signaling the commencement of the Extended Transition Period through 2025. This is encouraging, marking the second time the Government has made such public announcement in…

Drawing on the literature on the temporalities of infrastructure, this article focuses on the cyclical assertion of centralized authority through road-building in South Sudan, where roads are repeatedly built, projects paused, roads ruined, and then rebuilt again. The landscapes of South Sudan are littered with the decaying infrastructure projects of previous governments and political visions, seemingly pointing to a past of failed futures and the limits of government power. At the same time, the recurrent…

The inauguration of President Joe Biden on the 20th of January 2021 is a triumph of democracy and democratic institutions in the United States. There were some genuine concerns that peaceful transfer of power might not happen for the first time in American history. President Trump’s refusal to concede the election he had genuinely lost, and his claim of electoral fraud were at the core of this uncertainty in the United States. The mob attack…

This brief provides a context update about the current situation in Northern Bahr el Ghazal –a county in northern South Sudan. The authors present safety and security challenges identified by communities, authorities and civil society such as food insecurity, gender-based violence, land and border disputes, weak justice systems and a lack of security services to turn to. They also provide recommendations for how best to address these challenges for all levels of government and communities to consider.   Download

This report is the result of a short-term study on the traditional and changing roles of gender and women in peace-building. The study involved field research in five locations (Aweil, Bentiu, Bor, Rumbek and Torit). The purpose of the study is to research how the traditional and changing roles of women/girls and men/boys, conflict dynamics in South Sudan and to recommend to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), potential partners, on possible further peace initiatives….

In this review, SUDD analyzes the recent decision by President Salva Kiir Mayardit to reinstitute the ten states system of governance in South Sudan. They focus their attention on reactions from the stakeholders of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), the public, the region, and international community, surveying the moods of those involved. They also examine the repercussions of, and implications associated with the decision. The main  question they…

Many analysts and observers of politics in South Sudan point to weak governance as the malefactor for the political crises and lack of progress on socioeconomic development in the country. This policy brief, therefore, identifies major governance challenges in South Sudan and assesses whether the recently signed R-ARCSS addresses them. Among key governance challenges is lack of strategic direction, that is, no vision to rally the people around and without this, the country has difficulty…

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