Arabic Version

THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION – SOUTH SUDAN: CONCEPT

INTRODUCTION

The name of the forum shall be National Conversation – South Sudan, alternatively referred to as the Forum. Its headquarters shall be ubiquitous as it is a social media based platform on the World Wide Web. The forum’s offices shall be Mobile until such a time that there is a stable peace environment for settled offices. The Moderators and Subscribers of the National Conversation – South Sudan are committed to the principle of non-violence. In addition to this, the Forum is a non-partisan platform which aims to bring together the best minds of the marginalized intellectuals of our land (South Sudan).

The Forum shall be established as a platform for young South Sudanese men and women, and friends of South Sudan to freely exchange ideas. We are guided in our mission by our shared South Sudanese – and indeed African – cultural values. In addition to these values, our guiding principles have been published in a document on our website. The Forum shall create several WhatsApp groups for organizing, registering and updating subscribers.

ORIGINAL MEMBERS/MODERATORS

The Original Members of the forum are its founders and are its custodians. The Moderators of the National Conversation – South Sudan shall act as a Caretaker Administration and shall be in charge of overseeing its projects. In the spirit of promoting gender balance, we have left five spaces open for ladies among the Moderators. This Caretaker Administration shall be expanded as projects are developed in the near future, to include ad-hoc committees and sub-committees for the implementation of our peace and development projects.

MODERATORS:

• Nyanuba Chatim
• Catherine Kapuke Land
• Amer Mangar Majak
• Nyakoda Joak Mundit
• Gatwec R. Kuoth
• Joseph Bol Agau
• John Malek Kur
• Kalany Mamuon
• Makneth Aciek
• Gai Mayen Luk
• Manasseh Zindo
• Cpt Mabior Garang

Our Vision for South Sudan

“The modernization of our societies and the restoration of the greatness of our peoples”

 The vision of the National Conversation – South Sudan is to create an enduring institution in the Republic of South Sudan, owned by the people at the grassroots level. The Forum will engage in research into the resolution of socio-economic and political hardships facing our communities. The vision of this Forum is rooted in the vision of the new Sudan and intends to re-articulate it within the context of the new realities in the Republic of South Sudan.
Furthermore, the National Conversation – South Sudan will design Internship and Volunteerism Programs for capacity building at all levels of professions; from project management and development, to farming. This vision stems from our firm conviction that an Intellectual has a responsibility to give back to the community which developed and nurtured them. They must share their knowledge and experiences with the less fortunate members of the society. This will facilitate the fast tracking of the Renaissance of the Republic of South Sudan while allowing the youth to reach their full potential, enabling them to make a meaningful contribution as members of society.

This document outlines plans for a Think Tank, policy research organizations and capacity building for Community Based Organizations and other indigenous civil society groups.

THE PROBLEM/SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

The National Conversation – South Sudan understands very well the challenges faced by  local governments, community based organizations and local investors that are operating in our communities which  have now been in a state of crisis for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The Republic of South Sudan has borne this destruction dating back to the history of the old Sudan and beyond.

This perpetual insecurity has destroyed most indigenous knowledge systems. In the case of South Sudan, modern systems of administration and international best practices are unknown to the rural population. The indigenous organizations operating in the Republic of South Sudan for example, are faced with the daunting challenge of making the transition from emergency relief to economic development. In a crisis situation, the objective is very clear; to provide emergency relief. However, after winning independence, the situation must be different.

That South Sudan is a failed state is an incontrovertible fact; it is reflected in the Fragile States Index reports. The national discussion should not be driven by the blame game; rather, we must be solution oriented. Thus, the solution shall be an all-inclusive process aimed at empowering our indigenous people in their cattle camps and villages.

The Moderators of the National Conversation – South Sudan have identified lack of capacity as a major challenge facing development in rural communities. It is the firm belief of the Forum that both the traditional and modern approaches are equally valid. The Forum shall place great effort into the building of think tanks at high school, college and university levels that can grow and assist in the task of a civic education campaign so that “South Sudanese-ness” is engendered in our civil population.

It is imperative that an institution is created that can bring these two approaches (the indigenous knowledge systems and the modern technical knowledge) together in order to learn and benefit from the strongest aspects of either approach. This is what the new Sudan vision essentially is; the modernization of our societies and the restoration of the greatness of our peoples. These Think Tanks, established by the National Conversation – South Sudan at the community level can become the dynamo for the social transformation that was envisioned by the founding fathers of our nation.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The National Conversation – South Sudan is a forum which was first envisioned in 1997 as a student organization at the United States International University (USIU) – Nairobi, Kenya, under the name Renaissance Movement for New Africa (REMNA). The institution was founded under the guidance of the late Dr. John Garang de Mabior – founding Chairman of the SPLM/SPLA – who was then the patron of the club.

The untimely death of the patron of this organisation was a devastating blow from which we are still struggling to recover. The political environment which followed during the interim period of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and subsequent flag independence of Southern Sudan was not conducive for anyone who was still insisting on the vision of new Sudan. The vision was portrayed by those who did not have a concrete understanding of it as irrelevant to the new realities of the nascent Republic. This situation forced the “new Sudanians” to go underground when the country descended into authoritarianism and as we witnessed free thought and free speech muted; resulting in a vicious civil war.

The parties to the current civil war in the Republic of South Sudan signed the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. We are still struggling to implement the Revitalized version of it after its violent collapse in 2016. This new political dispensation provided by the negotiated settlement is the best opportunity for the National Conversation – South Sudan to put into practice the vision of the people’s struggle within the context of contemporary realities.

The Forum shall develop programs which shall be implemented and owned by the indigenous youth of South Sudan. The National Conversation – South Sudan will provide a unique opportunity for the urban youth to positively engage with the rural youth, so that together they may rediscover and reinvigorate South Sudanese civilization and realize unity on the basis of cultural renaissance. This way, we can contribute positively to humanity. While starting from a small basis, the vision of the National Conversation – South Sudan springs from this global perspective.

How can this be done?

The Forum shall study the destructive effects of the slave trade and colonization on our people. It shall also look to make our civil population understand the negative effects civil conflicts have had on rural communities in the Republic of South Sudan. Furthermore, the Forum shall play an advisory role to local government and community based organisations working for the welfare and prosperity of our peoples.

The National Conversation – South Sudan intends to adopt a participatory approach strategy within the context of the peace process to promote development. Through the combination of knowledge of the past and current situation in the Republic of South Sudan, the Forum will be prepared to face a wide range of challenges. The members of this Forum are likewise inspired by the CPA slogan of ‘taking the towns to the people’ to avert the negative effects of rural-urban migration and to promote local provision of goods and services. This is how we shall build an economic system as a society.  In the absence of an economy, we are only a group of people.

The National Conversation – South Sudan shall support the implementation of a number of projects relating to rural development. These include: support social and economic regeneration in rural communities i.e. revitalization of collapsed farm enterprises; sustainable livelihood approaches for income generation and job creation; environmental awareness, and implementation of land tenure legislation on the ground including community responsibility for all land agreements.

Though our priority is the implementation of the negotiated peace settlement, the planned projects extend beyond the peace process and the elections at the end of it. They recognize the shocking complexity of problems faced by rural communities in the Republic of South Sudan and seek to tackle them in a multi-disciplinary, coherent and holistic manner. They also include other traditional sectors such as Health, Skills Training, Women’s Empowerment and Business projects.

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

The National Conversation – South Sudan has made women’s empowerment a permanent topic in our national discourse. This is in recognition of the dire plight of women in our country, who live in scarce circumstances.

It is our conviction that “a nation can rise no higher than its women”. Thus, in neglecting our women we neglect our whole country.  For too long we have heard about the plight of our sisters from men. We have established the Women’s Forum so that we can be able to hear from our sisters about the plight and the state of the women’s struggle and the way forward.

PROPOSED GOALS

These are the sectors which the Forum considers require immediate attention. 

1. To disseminate the Agreement to all our citizens, initially through social media.

2. Contribute to the socio-economic advancement of rural communities by participating in research forums that will produce policies and plans for economic development. The Forum envisions the establishment of a bureau to lobby for such policies.
3. Create a community participatory approach where committees in the countryside can be involved in the practical research of the challenges facing them, so that they come up with a relevant assessment of basic needs and services.

4. Create an open dialogue with local governments to discuss and assess the needs and services from the local level to the national level of governance.
5. Conduct surveys with open consent from community heads and administrators. This data could be used by local and national governments, and the international community as a guideline assessment for any enduring and genuine development.

6. Establish a centre for the National Conversation South Sudan where youths can contribute their expertise, skills, and capabilities to better improve livelihood in rural communities.

7. Embrace the vision of new Sudan for the South Sudan by implementing the vision of a New Sudan which is concurrent with the African Liberation vision of a “New Society”.

8. Promote the modernization of our communities and the restoration of the greatness of our peoples.

PROPOSED STRATEGY

The National Conversation – South Sudan recognizes the great challenge of implementing this vision. Therefore, in the spirit of cooperation and comradeship, the Forum is currently embarking on a national mobilization program. Our intention is to use non-violent action through the power of information to end the intolerable status quo in the country. To this end, the Forum shall establish a volunteerism and internship program and identify suitable interns and volunteers that are qualified and knowledgeable in the specific fields to be mobile office units within the Republic of South Sudan.

The Forum has identified five areas categorized by the level of development and practical situations on the ground. These categorized areas have a significant potential for research forums and discussions. The National Conversation will develop these five categories into topics for a national discussion and shall publish reports and recommendations regularly on our website and other publications:

In a broader context, the 5 key areas of the program are identified as:

1. Knowledge creation and dissemination:

The Forum aims to;

• Define knowledge creation and how  it can be implemented from the indigenous system of governance to the modern day political systems,
• Identify effective development models that can assist all levels of governance to be self-reliant and sustainable,
• Identify mechanisms for integration and sharing of new innovations and best practices across sectors in different geographical regions,
• Identify methods that can facilitate the successful distribution of ideas/knowledge to all levels of governance,
• Identify the different types of support systems such as training, resource  mobilization and sharing of ideas that are required to assist local communities,
• Examine how a transformation from unsophisticated agrarian societies to modern day corporate systems can be integrated. We are inspired in this by the Kibbutzs of the State of Israel.

2. Private Sector Development:

The Forum aims to;

• Identify the most important issues of sustainability that will drive the private sector to evolve into self-reliance.
• Identify and encourage social corporate responsibility among local and international investors,
• Identify the role of local governments in facilitating and supporting innovations in the private sector,
• Identify the influence of Co-operative societies and their role in economic development,
• Undertake comparisons of private enterprises to non-private enterprises in order to distinguish which approach will help for each level of project development,
• Undertake comparisons of successful and failed methods in Private Sector enterprises,
• Develop techniques for the monitoring and evaluation of services in all levels of governance.

3.  Social, Cultural and Economic Development:

The Forum aims to;

• Realize the diversity in cultural understandings and viewpoints in national development,
• Examine the impact of demographic changes from the local population standings,
• Examine the problems of balancing the needs of different stakeholders – indigenous population, local and national governments, regional and international community,
• Identify the role of communities in managing their own enterprises and income generating activities,
• Examine the role of regional and indigenous governance that can be applied to the modern system of governance.
• Identify the roles that Diaspora citizens, the older generation and other stakeholders can play in national development.
• Identify how technology can be used to achieve social and economic development
• Become the catalyst for a cultural renaissance of South Sudanese societies

4. Rural Development

The Forum aims to;

• Examine the role of local governance starting from the community level,
• Examine the ability of rural communities to define and articulate their vision, mission, goals and objectives in embracing the principles of Co-operative society management,
• Identify the policies and legislations at all levels of governance that facilitate community development,
• Identify methods that can facilitate the successful distribution of ideas, skills, and knowledge to indigenous communities,
• Identify how to actively involve indigenous communities in production.

5. Local Governmental and Community Based Organizations Development:

The Forum aims to;

1. Examine regional issues or laws that affect private sector success,
2. Identify the role of government in facilitating, supporting or hindering sustainable practices in the private sector,
3. Identify the role of government in accessing and supporting innovation and sustainability in local enterprises,
4. Identify policy and legislation at all levels of government which facilitate practical innovation,
5. Identify the protocols required to promote innovation,
6. Develop tools to assist national governments in the monitoring and evaluation of private sector development.

PROPOSED ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

The Moderators of the National Conversation – South Sudan are concerned citizens who have come together to intervene in the unbearable status quo in our country. These members shall oversee the projects developed in the Forum. These are the original members and shall be responsible for the national mobilization for peace and an all-inclusive dialogue between South Sudanese.
The Moderators shall organically evolve an administrative structure through the course of the dialogue. This will help in the establishment of an administration which reflects the realities of organizing a society in a post conflict situation.

CLOSING STATEMENT

Following the approval of this project concept, the National Conversation South Sudan will hold a series of follow up discussions with local administrators and community members regarding the possibility of project development in their community. As the majority of our population are affected by the negative effects of war, we shall also consider our people who are internally displaced or in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. These discussions will take place with the view of capacity building for rural populations, especially in matters pertaining to project planning and implementation. This is required since many communities have never practically experienced modern systems of project management and development.

This will be invaluable information that can then be used to develop a national development program. The objective of the National Conversation is a cultural renaissance of the peoples of the Republic of South Sudan and the full realization of our Self-Destruction.

You will hear from us!

Moderators