Arabic Version Guiding Principles

The Guiding Principles of the National Conversation South Sudan

Preamble

The National Conversation –  South Sudan is guided, above all, by our shared cultural values as Junubeen – South Sudanese in the local vernacular. These values are the fundamental reason our peoples have survived from prehistory, through dynastic times in the Nile Valley and into the modern times we are more familiar with. This is essentially what a culture does; it is a tool for survival. The cultural unity of African peoples was proven by Professor Cheikh Anta Diop in his book, “Cultural Unity of Black Africa”. His premise is even more relevant for us as Junubeen.

In addition to this our peoples have a common history of oppression and resistance against oppression dating back to Greco-Roman times and into modern times. It is these shared cultural values which have allowed our peoples to organize a successful liberation struggle which gave us our nascent Republic. We continue to be guided by these shared cultural values as a necessary foundation for building a modern Republic. Our core objective in this enterprise isthe modernization of our societies and the restoration of the greatness of our peoples.

Apart from our shared cultural values as Junubeen, we shall be guided by the following principles:

Inclusivity: The National Conversation – South Sudan will be guided by the principle of inclusivity; where the community will be central in all its operations, programs, structure, and decision making processes. It is when the community feels ownership of its programs that they shall be able to meaningfully contribute to its development

Revolutionary Leadership: The National Conversation – South Sudan will adopt our communities’ age old model of decision making that was  based on broad consensus by a council of elders. The forum wishes to discourage an environment where individuals have the ability to amass power and make decisions on behalf of our community. Decisions should be for and by the people

Professional Administration:  The National Conversation – South Sudan will enforce in its decision making processes the groups rules and regulations and our code of conduct. We shall ensure we use modern systems of administration at all levels of our engagement and shall promote this as a culture at the grassroots level. The group shall be administered initially by the Moderators of the Forum as an organic administrative structure is evolved.

Transparency and Accountability:  The National Conversation – South Sudan will be guided by the principles of transparency and accountability, to ensure sustainable relations with communities, and to make sure the organizations resources  are managed effectively and efficiently.

Teamwork:  The National Conversation – South Sudan will promote teamwork at all levels of its operations and programs, and will adopt the principle of collective authority with personal responsibility.

Revolutionary Self-Correction:  The National Conversation – South Sudan will promote self-criticism, so as to learn from its own internal experiences and through advisory and consultancy from partners.  The administration at all levels will be the first to enroll in capacity building programs so as to build confidence amongst the junior members of the organization.

Justice and fairness:  The National  Conversation – South Sudan will strive to eliminate biased behaviour in all its operations, programs, and decision making processes, to ensure justice and fairness by having zero tolerance towards sectarianism and establishing disciplinary bodies at all executive levels. The forum will not tolerate discrimination based on among others age, sex, tribe or religion.

Self-Determination:  The National  Conversation – South Sudan will heavily rely on the locally available resources within the community to ensure sustainability for the planned programs and projects as Self-Determination is our motto. We shall also mobilize the Junubeen in Diaspora to raise funds for our initial projects.

Peace and Love: The National Conversation – South Sudan is committed to the principle of non-violence and we shall not promote wars for our children to go and die in. It is through peace and love that a conducive environment can exist for the welfare and prosperity of our peoples.

Moderators.