This week’s Review analyzes South Sudan’s readiness to conduct elections in under a year and reflects on why they are important. We start out with the discussion of the election’s fundamentals, then move to why elections are imperative in a post-confli …

On January 26, 2022, news broke of a salary adjustment for the members of the South Sudan’s legislature. Accordingly, each legislator will receive SSP800,000, which is equivalent to about $2,000 per month. This news generated a mixed response within th …

The central premise of this study is that violent conflict is the primary binding constraint to economic growth, and an obstacle to transition from fragility to stability in South Sudan. The study looks at the determinants of growth, and then applies t …

Local content requirements promote national capacity, employment, economic diversification, and economic growth. Local content develops capacities that link the oil and gas sector to other industries. While over 80% of the oil and gas sector’s workforc …

This policy brief studies the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Sudan. The findings are educative. First, the health effects of the pandemic in the country have been surprisingly less pronounced than expected, marked by very low morbid …

In December 2020, the South Sudan National Dialogue Steering Committee (NDSC) published its concluding report regarding the National Dialogue (ND) process. Drawing from its consultations, conferences, and outputs produced since the process kicked off i …

After nearly 4 years, the ND finally concluded on November 17, 2020, offering broadly appreciated recommendations on a range of state formation and national building matters in South Sudan. This Review, therefore, analyzes the ND by revisiting its meri …

South Sudan is experiencing a distressing economic period. Government revenue has shrunk to historic lows and debt, both domestic and external, is mounting, marked by unsettled salary arrears and outstanding loans. A combination of the COVID-19 pandemi …

In this Policy Brief we have analyzed COVID-19 mortality in South Sudan. The Brief examines the distribution and correlates of the pandemic. State testing capacity unaccounted for, we find that South Sudan is actually one of the least hit countries in …

This analysis uses laboratory data to examine the COVID-19 infections in South Sudan. Preliminary findings point to the underlying concerns. First, the COVID-19 preventive measures instituted in March are ineffective, with at least 100 new cases of the …

The COVID-19 outbreak presents three lessons for South Sudan, with 156 confirmed cases to-date. First, the government’s policy to clamp down on social gatherings is not as effective as assumed. Granted the streets are indeed empty now compared to the p …

Using experimental data from a pilot project administered in rural Tonj South, Aweil West, and Aweil North, this paper studies climate services reception and application in South Sudan. The pilot climate service was first of its kind directly delivered …

The importance of gender equality continues to dominate governance and constitutional discourses in a range of developing and fragile societies, especially in Africa. To help foster a better understanding on how South Sudan has been grappling with the …

South Sudanese in Kenya were shocked when the Kenyan police started storming their residences, arresting and detaining many of them in police center in Nairobi, Nakuru, Lodwar, Eldoret, and Nyeri, among others. This came following a strongly worded sta …

South Sudan has experienced decades of protracted conflicts, some of which might have been caused in part or exacerbated by climate change and variability. Climate change causes scarcity of resources and forces communities to raid their neighbors or mi …

December 15, 2017, marked 4 years of a political turmoil in an independent South Sudan. This has culminated in the country’s widespread insecurity, an unmatched humanitarian tragedy, and a heightening economic distress. This misery deepens as a host of …

South Sudan has been going through an emergency level food crisis, with some parts in the Greater Upper Nile region hit by famine. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) classified the Food Security situation in the former states of Wa …

This policy paper evaluates the prospects of peace in South Sudan within the context of the recently proposed revitalization process of the 2015 political pact. The paper broadly argues that the revitalization process is important, but it must contend …

This paper discusses the state of South Sudan’s national unity. Ever since the outbreak of the violent conflict in 2013, the landscape in South Sudan has not been the same. The conflict has created very bitter divisions and experiences that have had cr …

South Sudan has encountered waves of periodic fuel crisis since 2011. The government has attempted quick-fix measures, but the crisis has continued unabated. Despite a number of speculations surrounding this matter, however, the actual causes and impac …

This paper simplifies and discusses our understanding of the exchange rate policy regime in South Sudan. After independence in 2011, South Sudan fixed the value of its currency, the South Sudan Pound (SSP), to the U.S. dollar. This is a common practice …