Policy leaders come together to explore ways to improve governance systems

February 27, 2020

Over a four-day workshop held in Juba, key policy leaders and implementers engaged in an open dialogue to enhance the country’s presidential and federal systems.

UNDP Resident Representative Dr. Kamil Kamaluddeen delivering the closing remarks.

6 February 2020, Juba, South Sudan: For the newest nation in the world, good governance and building accountable public institutions is key to getting developmental results. To accelerate this, the South Sudan National Dialogue, in partnership with the Government of South Sudan, the Government of Japan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized a workshop for key policy leaders on improving presidential and federal systems of governance in the country. The sessions were held under the theme ‘Implementing the people's demand.’

At the opening of the workshop, Hon Angelo Beda, Co-chair of the National Dialogue reiterated the importance of good governance in the peace-building process. She also stressed the vital role policymakers play in building transparent and reliable public institutions towards building peace and ensuring sustainable development.

Strong vision and leadership at the political and administrative level, backed by a high-quality public service contributing to the design and execution of policy, has the potential to transform South Sudan and ensure long-term growth.

Aligned to this, the sessions were designed to focus on addressing the broader governance-related challenges within the post-crisis context in South Sudan. The workshop also advocated with key South Sudanese policymakers the critical role of good governance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The four days were facilitated by Professor Nico Steytler who focused on federal systems in Africa, and Professor Kwasi Prempeh who focused on the presidential system in South Sudan. The audience included a strategic combination of government, ministers, political parties, diplomats, faith-based organizations, civil society organizations, private-sector, think-tanks, academicians, students, governors, the Council of State and the South Sudan National Dialogue steering committee.

At the closing of the workshop, Dr. Kamil Kamaluddeen, UNDP Resident Representative said, “Peaceful co-existence, perspectives, opinions, and views on mechanisms will be different. The essence of dialogue is to look at both sides and devise a means of making every opinion count.”

This workshop was organized based on a collective call from people of South Sudan, that were key asks from the dialogues conducted at the grassroot, state and regional consultation forums. Going forward, the outcomes of this open dialogue will be included as recommendations for the National Dialogue Conference, scheduled to be held in March this year.