Background

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 marked a critical juncture for Sudan. It represented an opportunity for the people of Southern Sudan, in particular, as the area most affected by Africa’s longest civil war, to finally experience peace and development. Since 1983 there have been an estimated 2 million deaths attributable to 22 years of conflict, 4 million internally displaced people, and more recently 2 million IDPs caused by the situation in Darfur, and almost 1 million refugees in neighbouring countries.

In this context, the expectations of the new Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) seem in excess of what can actually be delivered. The responsibility of the President to make wise decisions, to manage competing interests, to negotiate differences, and to both establish and deliver key priorities, is enormous. The task will be impossible without strong support being given to the President to carry out these many functions and to ensure he has good and timely information, sound analysis, and efficient organization in his office. Therefore, the GoSS President requested UNDP to provide technical assistance to his office. With financial support from the Norwegian Government, as a follow up to its commitment to the peace process, UNDP launched the Support to the Presidency project to assist the office of the GoSS President in developing its functional capacity.

Objectives
The project’s objective is to strengthen the Office of the President so that it can adequately carry out its role of supporting the President in providing direction for key strategic priorities in Southern Sudan and in his task of running his Cabinet, and through this, support the functioning of the Government of Southern Sudan, contributing to democratic development and sustainable peace.

Outputs
• The capacity of the Office of the President is enhanced to coordinate, oversee, and monitor key strategies.
• The human and institutional capacity of the Office of the President is enhanced to support the President in achieving his mandate.

Snapshots of the project's major achievements
• Supported the formulation and review of the Policy Framework for the Ministry of Presidential Affairs through the provision of much needed technical assistance. The Policy Framework re-organizes the President’s Office, the Vice President’s Office and the Ministry of Presidential Affairs into one functioning government body (The Office of the President). This Framework outlines the mandate, vision, and guiding principles of the new office and elaborates its key goals and strategic objectives. This includes the institutional arrangements for policy implementation.
• A concept paper for the Southern Sudan Strategic Planning Council was developed and a task force was formed to review it through a consultative process. The concept paper is now ready for submission to and approval by the Council of Ministers. It will then be passed to the Assembly for final endorsement. The Strategic Planning Council will be established at the end of this process.
• Conducted two consultative workshops for induction training for the senior staff in the Presidency. The first workshop on Ministry of Presidential Affairs Policy Framework was held to acquaint senior management of the Office of the President with the Policy Framework. The second workshop discussed and reviewed the Support to the Presidency work plan;