North Sudan

Justice Africa plans to engage and educate Sudanese citizens across the country to participate effectively in the democratic process through informed decision making; to strengthen civil society’s capacity to play a role in supporting democratic processes in Sudan and to provide a forum for political parties to present themselves to and engage with Sudanese civil society during the elections. Justice Africa proposes to facilitate civil society’s role in election-related activities through a process of consultation and technical support/capacity building. Activities for this component will be addressed by category as per the civil project proposal.

Report of activities for each category

(a) Conference and strategic planning with civil society on election related activities.

Justice Africa commenced activities for this component of the civil project in June 2009, setting up offices and establishing contact with CSOs, media partners and government. Four major meetings were held in Khartoum. The first introduced the civil project to all the CSOs taking part, as well as general publicity in the media. Following this initial meeting, a further meeting was held to identify priority areas of concern to Sudanese people and CSOs, in order for CSOs to work from a common agenda for coordinated efforts. A wide cross section of civil society activists were involved in these meetings, including journalists from 5 newspapers, CSO activists, NGOs from Darfur, Kordofan, South Sudan and political parties. We plan to reach at least 10 activists from each region of Sudan.

The following agenda was drawn up through the outcomes of the second meeting held with civil society in conjunction with the Programme Advisory Committee to the civil project.

The Civil Project: Programme Activities
Agenda for Change, Sustainable Peace & Democracy

1- Organise an all level debate and a conference to bring Sudanese CSOs together to discuss and identify their role in the election and referendum, create a strategic plan to coordinate activities and identify their main needs of support.

2- The central theme for discussion is Common Citizenship and Governance

- Whether Sudan remains as one nation or becomes two, the people of (greater) Sudan need to live together as neighbours and as citizens.
- How should citizens and CSOs play a role in ensuring that citizenship rights are respected, and good neighbourly relations among people are maintained?
- In the event of southern separation, how should CSOs and citizens sustain relations across the north-south divide?
- Whatever the outcome of the general election and the referendum, the central challenges of governance in (greater) Sudan need to be addressed and resolved.
- How is government to be brought closer to the people and made more accountable?
- How is social and economic development policy to be made more equitable and deliver results to the people?

3- Supplementary themes for discussion are as follows:
- Economic and social rights in future Sudan
- Human rights as contained in international declarations
- Covenants and Agreements with emphasis on Economic and social rights
- A human rights approach to development policy
- Dimensions of child rights with regards to measures of protection and promotion
- Deprivations of Sudanese children living under a state of armed conflict and uneven regional development
- Social ills endangering the social life of Sudanese people
- Sudanese society: family systems and interrelationships
- Promoting solutions to the special needs of children
- Appropriate economic policies and programmes for immediate economic rehabilitation
- Future prospects of the Sudanese economy
- Strategies to address the debt burden
- Post-conflict reconstruction
- Encouraging investment and responding to globalisation, and the current credit crunch.
- Development strategies for poverty alleviation
- Economic growth: prioritising sectors for investment
- Strategies to encourage private sector investment in the regions
- Regional inequalities
- Dismantling military-commercial linkages
- Combating bureaucratic corruption
- Improving sub regional economic cooperation, particularly infrastructure
- Prioritising in investing in Health, education, and job training according to the economic needs.
- Disarmament and demobilisation following a peace agreement and issues concerning resettlement and welfare of former soldiers
- Psychological rehabilitation: installing values of civility and non-violence
- Priority treatment, education and welfare opportunities for Child soldiers and unaccompanied children in war zones
- Security problems during demobilisation
- Establishing equitable rights to land and natural resources
- The land registration process and ending abuses of the registration system
- The importance of reform
- Rural and urban land tenure
- Rights to natural resources
- Ensuring the integration of displaced persons into Sudanese social, economic and political life
- Futures for Internally displaced people (IDP) including voluntary and secure return to former residences and integration into urban centres
- Return, resettlement and reintegration/ rehabilitation
- Human rights challenges facing the women’s movement and strategies for women and women’s organisations to mobilise in pursuit of peace and human rights
- Understanding the sufferings and abuses women are subject to
- Seeking political allies and activating international networks
- Exploring possible mobilisation strategies and necessary reforms
- Concepts of nationhood and self-determination in a multi-polar Sudan and arguments for both a federal and unitary state
- Freedom of association
- Government laws on political parties
- Reforming all Sudanese laws to be compatible with the constitution and the Bill of Rights.
- Related issues concerning Trade unions, NGO’s, Citizens’ Associations and Professional Associations.
- Islam, politics and the state
- Investigating the connections between religion and politics
- Can Islam become a basis for politics or the state?
- Considering an indigenous cultural alternative approach

4- Provide capacity building to CSOs on election related activities as identified in the conference, from pre-election publicity and organisation, registration of voters and voter education, to Election Day conduct and vote counting.

5- Provide capacity building and technical support to assist CSOs in obtaining funding for their activities from donors.

The areas of priority outlined in the above list, were grouped together by issue and a working group assigned to each issue. These working groups were to meet further to discuss the issues identified, to decide on what action was appropriate for each of the issues in question. It was decided that where necessary, research papers would be prepared. These pieces of research would then be shared with the working groups and Programme Advisory Committee, for feedback on which steps were necessary to take to further address these issues.

Certain issues would require coordinating advocacy efforts among CSOs to approach government at local, regional or national levels, others would concern the UN. Issues regarding the election and democratic progress would require CSOs to coordinate activities for advocacy or debate.

The research of the working groups would be in preparation for a further strategic planning conference after April (as the focus between February – April will be on election activities). This event would broaden participation in the agenda for change outlined by CSOs, bringing in Sudanese government officials, the UN and international organisations.

At this event, it was decided that the Agenda for Change, Sustainable Peace & Democracy (see above)
–would be discussed and debated in further consultations after the elections, with the civil society groups involved in drawing up the recommendations in order to update the agenda due to any political changes. It was also decided that additional meetings with actors such as the UN, international donors, national, regional and local government and community leaders. This would provide opportunity for ideas contributed from participants with varied experience and backgrounds. How to implement the agenda would be discussed and what actions would be necessary to take. Actions and the involvement of appropriate stakeholders would change according to the issue in question.

In March, meetings with CSOs in Khartoum and Nyala took place to address the Darfur crisis in relation to the elections and democratic transition in Sudan. Discussions explored how the Darfur crisis would influence and affect the democratic transformation in Sudan and it was questioned whether elections should happen before a comprehensive peace agreement in Darfur. These meetings were well attended by approx. 55 activists from Darfur and other Sudanese activists engaging with Darfur in Khartoum and around 50 activists in Darfur.

Results and impact

During this meeting, a coordinated plan of action was drawn up by CSOs to keep up the momentum of the peace process in Darfur. Unfortunately the government run body Humanitarian Affairs Commission (which runs as a charity commission for the voluntary sector) prohibited any further activities in relation to Darfur.

The final meeting addressed how to improve civic activism to carry out the civic agenda. It was agreed that raising the capacity of civil society was paramount. Civil society needs fundraising training and organisational training. Justice Africa will provide more training and another meeting will be held to address the issues of sustainability for CSOs in government policy.

Currently, the majority of NGOs are NCP (Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party) aligned and supported financially by Government. It is hoped that civil society efforts could be coordinated to advocate for changes in government policy and law to make it easier for CSOs, operating independently from the government, to survive financially and obtain funding. Different options in which the government could support CSO activities and facilitate their ability to diversify their sources of income by increasing options for CSOs to obtain funds were also discussed.

50 activists attended this meeting and an advocacy plan was drawn up. As a result of this meeting, it was decided that further meetings would explore different ideas for what kind of government policies could enable CSOs to become more sustainable. The meetings will take place after the elections, given the attention over March/ April would be focussed mainly on election issues and activities for both Justice Africa and the political parties.

(b) Provide capacity building and support to CSOs on election related activities as identified in the conference, from pre-election publicity and organisation, registration for voters and voter education, to Election Day conduct and vote counting.

Within the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005, provisions were made for a new electoral system which involved a highly complex mixed system approach, in order to accommodate principles of devolution and democracy according to the CPA. The Sudanese elections will be one of the most complex in the world, with each voter casting between 4 and 13 ballots, for the various levels of government (the exact number depending on their region). Notwithstanding the logistical challenges this presents, given Sudan’s enormous territory and weak infrastructure, this also presents a serious challenge to democracy. Low turnout and high numbers of spoiled ballots, combined with low voter registration levels, could undermine the legitimacy of the election. 70% of Sudan’s electorate are illiterate and the majority have never participated in elections before. Educating the population about the electoral process in general, informing them of their rights and demystifying the act of voting is therefore of vital importance if the elections are to be considered free, fair, and democratic.

In recent months, Justice Africa has endeavoured to support civil society in ensuring that the elections are carried out fairly. We have been working with a coalition named Ta’mam, carrying out election and monitoring related activities. Justice Africa has assigned delegates to attend coordination meetings and participate in visits to voter registration centres to aid monitoring. This has included checking adherence to electoral procedures and reporting on any malpractice to the National Election Commission. Each centre Ta’mam visited, discrepancies were discovered and all were reported to the NEC. Members of the Ta’mam coalition will now apply to become accredited monitors in order to oversee vote counting and Election Day conduct.

Justice Africa sent representatives to the National Election Commission (NEC), in order to seek out important information and further clarification on election procedures. Our aim is to provide well-informed information when delivering training to CSO activists, who themselves will act as trainers and train others. Justice Africa has also been preparing materials and developing methodology for the trainers. Within the training, Justice Africa will provide information on election procedures and monitoring. This will be done through power point presentations of the procedures, distribution of election education materials and a mock election. We have produced a short educational video showing a mock election with explanations of the voting process, which we will negotiate to be transmitted on television by the NEC.

Justice Africa has been training our own staff in preparation for them to hold workshops and carry out training. Justice Africa trained around 1000 people in Khartoum, including political party representatives, volunteers and government employees. We also trained trainers for rural areas, such as Northern Kordofan and Sinar state over the weeks preceding the election date. Justice Africa will provide transport and cover costs to the trainers involved in our training programme.

Justice Africa applied to be an election monitor and will endeavour to apply for individual staff members to receive accreditation as election monitors.

Results and impact

During the elections, monitoring was successfully carried out by Justice Africa staff and our networks. The results were shared with international monitoring websites such as www. sudanvotemonitor.com. Monitoring information was also shared with international and national news covering the election and other international actors, such as the EU, the Carter centre and the UN. As a result of our training and the subsequent wide network of election monitors, civil society was better able to share information with voters, apply to become accredited monitors and to conduct monitoring themselves of the election.

(c) Provide capacity building and technical support to assist CSOs to obtain funding for their priority activities from donors

In October, Justice Africa held a capacity building training workshop. Fifty individuals working from Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and CSOs attended the training. The training lasted for five days, in which we provided participants training on fundraising, peacebuilding and conflict prevention mechanisms, project cycle management, donor requirement, proposal and log frame writing. Manuals and methodology previously prepared were provided. Feedback from the participants was very positive and there were calls for further training workshops. Due to efforts and activities being focused on the elections, preparations will recommence after April for further workshops to take place.

Results and impact

Through consultations and interviews conducted after this workshop, feedback from this training was very positive. NGOs stated that they gained vital skills and information that would help them in carrying out the work of their particular organisation. All of them requested further and longer training to build their capacity. The training was evaluated by each attendee using a feedback form. Given the popularity of this training we have kept in touch and plan to provide further training to attendees and another training workshop for new CSO members.

(d) Justice Africa will issue a Monthly briefing and Monthly Media Briefing which reports on the progress of the project to inform the Sudanese public and give a thorough analysis of the situation in Sudan.

Justice Africa has agreements with three of the main Sudanese broadsheets to provide coverage of the civil project. Our media officer produced weekly updates in 5 broadsheets, who offered Justice Africa space to cover civil project and NGO activities. Our director has also produced editorials about our work in more than 3 newspapers and Al-Jazeera. All the major events Justice Africa has convened have also been covered by the media. Generally, they are covered by the 5 national newspapers with full reports for our major events.

Results and impact

As a result of the dissemination of information about our work, CSOs and activists regularly attended meetings we held and visited Justice Africa for advice and training in the run up to the elections. Justice Africa was able to reach a wider range of actors thanks to our media coverage.

Issue papers

Over the course of this year a number of issues papers have been called for by Justice Africa meetings with Civil Society. Following the one day workshop for Sudanese Political Parties under the title ‘The Challenges of Sudanese Political Parties Economic Programme Workshop’, on the Sudanese economy and proposed policies within political parties’ campaigns, Justice Africa has developed a joint concept note with The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance called Development and Democracy.

This set out some of the main issues for discussion within Sudanese political parties. The Finance Ministry will also be involved in the discussion proposed. The paper will address the issue of Poverty Eradication and will address the following key issues:

1. Democracy and the development nexus.

2. Democratic governance and economic development: the experience of economic liberalization in Sudan and its impact on social sectors (education, health, housing, and employment).

3. War, conflict and economic development.

5. Corruption and its debilitating impact on governance and development.

6. Role of parliament in overseeing business conduct.

7. Budgets and the poor: demystifying budget mechanics and ownership by citizens over government budgets.
9. The affects of the oil industry on the manufacturing sector (‘Dutch Disease’) and its impact on the Sudanese economy and service delivery.

10. Globalization, impact of donors (aid and investments) and performance of the national economy.

11. The Sudan PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) has proceeded in certain essential stages to date: preparation of the progress reports on I-PRSP (Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper); review of I-PRSP and the evaluation of the implementation of the PRSP; design, production, adoption and evaluation of Sudan’s PRSP – What has gone wrong in this process?

12. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are seen as a legally binding obligation for Sudan, whereas it is actually no more than a programmatic document and not legally binding. Finally, some legislators expressed certain skepticism in terms of being able to achieve all the MDGs by the year 2015 – the date by which they are to be met.

A concept note was presented by Justice Africa at an event addressing women’s rights beyond representation which discussed all other issues related to women’s rights in Sudan. This included employment issues, such as the disparity between the number of men and women at senior levels in private companies and public office. The subject of women in rural areas was also discussed and issues affecting women workers, such as tea makers, who are subject to raids by government and prosecution under the public order act for selling products publicly.

Dr Abdul Basit Saeed prepared a paper on Abyei (presented after the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration). Abdul Basit’s paper suggests that the root cause of this problem is a lack of water and development in the region. Currently the Misseriya need to cross the border in order to access water. Abdul’s paper presented alternatives which included resettlement of nomadic tribes in small villages where it would be possible to access water, education and healthcare. The Misseriya would still have to move to access new pastures after the rainy season however if water is accessible in their villages they would only have to travel short distances to find new grazing and would not need to cross the North/South border.

Results and impact

The above papers allow for information to be gathered form the ground on key issues identified by stakeholders. The research can be presented and shared and feedback gained from civil society as to the best steps forward to address the issues highlighted in the research. JA will then support civil society in their endeavour to address these issues through either technical assistance or capacity building.

Support to women’s groups

Justice Africa Sudan is supporting women’s groups and their engagement with political parties. A consortium has been formed of women’s groups working together to engender the democratic process in Sudan. Women’s groups who took part in a convention on women’s rights held in Kampala III in 2003, plus representatives of all NGOs working on gender issues in Sudan have regrouped to form this consortium. Another separate group is made up of female members of different Sudanese political parties working together to promote gender issues and to work collectively to put them at the heart of the April 2010 general election. Justice Africa provides logistical and technical support to them and allows them to convene meetings at the Justice Africa Sudan office. The following meetings took place in November and December 2009.

Engendering democracy group meetings

A meeting was held at the end of December on issues which were to be addressed by the consortium and outline activities in the coming months. It was agreed that an audit be carried out on all the recommendations from the Kampala conference.

One of the main issues that came out of the Kampala conference was the representation of women politically. The situation of women has improved since the new interim constitution made provisions for women’s representation. Also a recent election bill act in March 2009, requiring a minimum of 25 % of women to be employed at all levels of government.

The meeting held in December discussed the above issues and moved discussion beyond representation to other issues related to women in Sudan. It was proposed that there would be preparatory meetings, followed by workshops on the following issues: workshop on laws which are related to and contravene women’s rights- such as the public order act, and domestic (personal affairs) laws (divorce and rights to own property and the right to custody of children in divorce).

On the 3rd January a symposium was held on legislation contravening women’s rights. This workshop outlined the issues above presented by female lawyers, followed by debate and discussion.

A concept note was presented by Justice Africa, addressing women’s rights beyond representation which discussed all other issues related to women’s rights in Sudan. This included employment issues, such as the disparity between the number of men and women at senior levels in private companies and public office. The subject of women in rural areas was also discussed and issues affecting women workers, such as tea makers, who are subject to raids by government and prosecution under the public order act for selling products publicly.

All-party women groups

A group of women belonging to different political parties have held meetings on gender issues, convened with Justice Africa at our offices in Khartoum. They have decided to work together to promote gender issues among their different political parties.

It was decided that after the nominations for the election have been decided (third week January), that all candidates will be invited to take part in the women all-party meetings. It is hoped that through engagement, political parties will consider promoting gender issues further in their election agenda manifesto.

Results and impact

Our support to women’s groups in Sudan, mean that women activists can gain practical help in working for the issues that are important to them. Reviving the manifesto decided upon at the Kampala forum will prevent these important issues from being forgotten and action to be taken for the empowerment of women in Sudan which is an important part of the civic agenda as identified by civil society.

Future plans for workshops/meetings

Justice Africa was asked to prepare a pre workshop plan on engendering the governmental budget. This workshop would address areas of the national budget, that relate to women, such as tax credit for families with children and maternity leave. This will be organised when the necessary information is available.

A future workshop was also planned on issues (legal, economic and domestic) affecting women in rural areas.

Justice Africa was also tasked with preparing statistics on women’s representation in senior posts in companies and governmental departments for future meetings.

Training manuals prepared for our work with civil society

Justice Africa commissioned Dr Mohy Eldeen as a training consultant, to produce our conflict analysis and peace building manual used for Heiban, Kadugli and Darfur training and peace building workshops.
A Project cycle management manual in Arabic and English was produced/edited by Hafiz Mohammed and other Justice Africa staff.

These manuals are a vital resource to Justice Africa and other CSOs in carrying out our training programmes as they provide a source of information which the CSOs we work with can refer to.

South Sudan

One of the main areas of focus for Justice Africa’s Civil Project is to assist civil society in their efforts to support Sudan’s transition to democracy. To this end, Justice Africa has been meeting and consulting with a wide range of civil society, including local NGOs, women’s groups, youth associations, forums and networks, media, lawyers and law associations, the churches and individual activists, to discuss the challenges confronting civil society efforts to support peace and democracy.

Since August 2009 Justice Africa has been working closely with civil society in Southern Sudan to mobilise and assimilate a strong constituency of civil society groups from various sectors and encourage their engagement in Southern Sudan’s peace and democratisation processes.
Civil Society Consultations and Analysis

The first stage of this process began with a series of one-to-one consultations with different sectors of civil society in Juba with more than 40 different groups consulted (please see budget line 4.2.2, 4.2.1). Civil society in the South face enormous challenges from a variety of sources. In the last five years, much of the civic leadership has been absorbed by GoSS and international NGOs and there is very little inter-connection between groups with much competition for resources. At the time of beginning this project, there was little activity in the governance and political scene, leaving a vacuum and very low morale. In order to address this disparity Justice Africa has concentrated its efforts in the south on identifying the reasons behind the lack of solidarity and encouraged civil society to collectively assess means of progressing forward together, redefining their roles and building their capacity. JA has regarded building a genuine coalition of civil society in the south as an urgent issue that needed to be addressed before moving towards creating a collective consensus and commencing seminars, lectures and dialogue with key stakeholders outside civil society. Progress in forming the coalition has been slow but very successful and encouraging.

The following provides an overview of the challenges facing civil society:

INTERNAL FACTORS EXTERNAL FACTORS
Human Resources
­ Leadership has been lost to GoSS
­ Many have left to INGOs
­ This trend is continuing.

Capacity
­ Lack of physical infrastructure – access to computers, printing facilities, regular address
­ Often donor requirement areas like fundraising, financial management systems and proposal writing are prioritised, marginalising other needs.

Civil Society Cohesion
­ Inward rather than outward thinking – a focus on internal organisational issues rather than regional and national issues
­ Individual rather than collective thinking – each organisation focuses on its own agenda rather than a collective agenda for civil society in Southern Sudan
­ Lack of commitment
­ Competition for resources
­ Inter and intra-sectoral divisions Donors
­ The emergence of donor-driven NGOs (briefcase NGOs)
­ Donor driven / directed priorities
­ Lack of access to donors
­ Numerous criteria of donors create barriers to accessing funds

INGOs
­ Coalescing of civil society networks around INGOs rather than around their own agenda
­ Civil society act as contractors rather than real and equal partners
­ INGOs are also driving priorities (and are themselves donor driven)
­ Minimal effective capacity building support
­ Uncoordinated support to local civil society

GoSS
­ No civil space
­ Lack of support to civil society
­ Strong resistance to organised civic action

The Formation of a Coalition

At the end of consultations, a first meeting was called bringing together people from the various sectors to discuss the issues. Emerging from discussions in this first meeting was the repeated call for the unity and coming together of civil society to effectively express its views and lobby for reform. The idea to form a coalition of civil society, now named the South Sudan Civil Society Coalition, was born and over the last six months, has been slowly taking shape.

A taskforce was first appointed to think about how the coalition would work, its structure, and to develop a guiding constitution for discussion. The taskforce was elected by the general meeting and has key leadership from NGOs, the media, individual activists, elections’ monitoring network, academics and law associations. The taskforce is chaired by the Secretary General of the Catholic Church. Justice Africa was requested to function as secretariat of the taskforce.

The taskforce has met on a weekly basis to discuss ideas and develop the necessary formational documents for the coalition. At the outset the taskforce functioned mechanically, and whilst meetings were often inspiring, little real work was undertaken by members; Justice Africa as secretariat shouldered much of the responsibility. Slowly as the taskforce has called a number of larger meetings, members have begun to take more and more responsibility and to feel a sense of real ownership and pride. Bonds have formed between the taskforce members and political engagement has increased. Each meeting now begins with discussions on the unfolding political events in Sudan which has led to the development of a number of ideas and possible initiatives for the coalition to undertake.

Results and impact

The coalition is envisioned as an umbrella body for all civil society activists, groups and networks, helping to provide a platform for civil society to speak from and a mechanism for building inter-sectoral cooperation and consensus building. It does not seek to replicate or duplicate existing networks, but rather to bring them together and utilise and highlight the comparative advantages groups have in their respective sectors and foci.

The taskforce has developed a constitution which has been discussed and approved by the larger group. It is currently in the process of strategising on how to raise funds to be legally registered, in order to begin activities.

It was understood at the outset of this process that building a real and legitimate coalition of civil society actors would be a challenging and long term process; many networks take years to reach a stage of cohesiveness and institutional maturity. Yet the challenges facing Sudan and the current volatility of the political situation desperately requires strong civil society voices to engage in the process. Currently civil society are marginalised and their voices completely drowned out by the larger, better resourced, more influential advocacy of international civil society.

Fragmentation and Disconnection
In order to effectively support the process of building a principled, vocal and influential group of civil society actors, the most difficult but fundamental dynamic of civil society – internal fragmentation – must be addressed. One of the greatest challenges facing civil society in the South is the lack of cooperation and high levels of competition between actors. This dynamic is a common feature of civil society around the world; however in Southern Sudan it has been greatly exacerbated by the enormous amount of resources flooding into the region and the approach of international organisations working with civil society who seem not to understand the detrimental effects of these interventions.

Numerous organisations in Southern Sudan have sprung up in response to donor funding since the CPA was signed. They are market-oriented organisations; mechanisms for earning a livelihood. The economic market in Southern Sudan and in Juba in particular, is a difficult one to operate in. The very high cost of living has been determined by the huge influx of international organisations which has distorted local markets. The weak rule of law and constantly changing rules and regulations means that small time entrepreneurs find it difficult to start and grow. Donor /INGO funding to local groups can therefore be much easier to attract than through business.

It is not uncommon to come across ghost organisations which exist in name only; also there are many organisations that exist and carry out activities solely as a function of supporting individuals’ livelihoods. In both cases, groups compete fiercely for funding (which is already limited) and there is a high level of mistrust. Communication and efforts to work collaboratively between groups is minimal; many organisations do not even speak to one another, despite having offices within 100 metres of each other. Visibility is important to local groups who compete to get noticed and maintain good relationships with international organisations and donors.

In view of such a context, it was imperative that any process to support civil society in the South was (a) careful to not inflame divisions and tensions through selectivity and resources; and (b) to try to reverse this process and actually work towards creating greater cooperation and connectedness between groups. Without addressing this fundamental dynamic, any efforts to encourage civil society activity would result in contractually set out activities rather than genuine, deep and dynamic engagement with the transition and the ability to effectively engage with external players, including international organisations, donors and the GoSS.

Creating and Strengthening Relationships
After the consultation and analysis phase of the project, it was decided that the strategy would be to bring together civil society groups on a regular basis, rather than in one large event which would have limited opportunities to genuinely increase cooperation and develop strong relationships between groups. The coalition taskforce has therefore initiated a number of larger civil society meetings, taking members of the coalition through the process of its development and involving them in the design of the coalition and the principles and mechanisms of its operation through the development of a constitution.

In addition in October 2009, the committee of the coalition organised a civil society debate on the issue of materialism in Southern Sudan, framed as the question “Does wealth equal freedom?” By introducing such a question in a more general context, an attempt was made to stimulate dialogue on this issue within civil society itself, as well as create a civil society forum that is engaging, lively and relevant, again with an aim to build relationships between stakeholders.

In November 2009, the coalition initiated the first public civil society position paper made since before the signing of the CPA, in response to the arrests of the Secretary General and Deputy for Northern Sector, Pagan Amum and Yassir Arman. The development of the civil society position paper was spearheaded by more than 10 senior civil society activists and released in a public press conference, with members of the international community in attendance.

Results and Impact

JA succeeded in bringing together disparate groups of civil society and supporting them towards writing a collective position paper which was circulated on key Sudanese news sites and newspapers (including the Citizen, the Juba Post and Sudan Tribune) this was an event that greatly boosted the morale of all civil society groups involved.

Directly Addressing the Question of Internal Civil Society Disunity
As the coalition has moved towards becoming a formal entity and the committee has grown to be a legitimately operational and engaged group, it was increasingly a concern of the taskforce that internal civil society dynamics be addressed. The most recent civil society meeting called by the coalition taskforce therefore included this issue in its agenda. The meeting was a difficult one, eliciting strong feelings from members, many who expressed their suspicions and mistrusts of other groups, networks and the coalition itself. As one member of a network engaged in civic and voter education demonstrated by saying, “We are the leading civic and voter education network in Southern Sudan and any network who decides to do civic education, must go through us”, the competition and territorial nature of civil society is a major stumbling block for building a strong civil society constituency.

The process, though difficult, was important and ended extremely positively; a testament to the commitment and skills of the coalition taskforce who managed the meeting. It was unanimously decided that an internal civil society dialogue was a necessary requisite to legally forming the coalition, in order to build a solid foundation upon which to work together. As the Sudanese say “you must first clean your own house before you go to someone else’s”. That process is currently being moved forward by the taskforce.
Linking Civil Society with the International Community

A parallel process being undertaken by Justice Africa within the support to civil society component of the Civil Project is the linkage of civil society to donors, to assist them in obtaining funding for their priority activities. Currently there are almost no mechanisms to directly link donors to Sudanese civil society; most donors route funds via international NGOs. This greatly impacts the quality and areas of programming undertaken by civil society groups. Local groups are usually funded to undertake a pre-planned set of activities designed by international organisations (whose programmes themselves are often shaped by funding criteria) and therefore ‘local partners’ work as contractors rather than real representatives and supporters of communities.

As such partnerships between international and local groups are rarely true and equitable; local groups do not have substantial levels of leeway to prioritise and shape the work that they wish to undertake. INGOs tend to put out contracts for specific projects which NGOs are selected or bid to undertake. A number of organisations, in the consultation phase of the project, for example, were undertaking projects on awareness raising on HIV/AIDS and Gender Based Violence issues. When asked what they would like to be working on should they receive an unearmarked grant, a number of them responded that they would prioritise issues like government accountability and corruption; however they had been unable to receive funding for such activities.

Problematic Aspects of the Current Funding Framework
There are a number of difficulties civil society groups have in accessing funds through the current process of grant distribution. Fund seeking and management requirements placed on civil society through existing processes create barriers and place strains on civil society groups, who do not necessarily have the relevant skills to effectively work within this framework to obtain resources. This places ‘donor friendly’ groups – groups with leadership that have skills in networking and proposal writing and so on – who may not necessarily be effective and have strong links with communities, in a position of advantage, leaving out many dedicated and genuinely representative organisations.

Another problematic aspect of the current grant releasing processes of donors and INGOs is that it forces groups to focus on building their skills in proposal writing, project cycle management, reporting and accountancy. Whilst these skills are important in the current funding framework, the emphasis on these areas of organisational development often detracts from organisations’ links and accountability to stakeholders, as they become more inward focussed (concentrating on building organisations internally). It creates a greater distance in the relationship between civil society groups and their constituent communities, shifting it to a closer relationship between civil society groups and their ‘constituent’ donors/INGOs, reducing the very inherent comparative advantages that local civil society has.

A third problematic feature of this framework is that it prevents the development of different forms of organisation. There have been many different governance and organisational structures of civil society groups existing both within and outside of Southern Sudan. Some groups used local committees whilst others had more formal board systems. Many also had small businesses that supported their activities (such as tea shops, craft activities etc.). Each system was adapted to the working context and needs of the organisation, and offered different sets of advantages and limitations. Current funding frameworks encourage the more traditional NGO organisational format and block the development of other structures which may be more appropriate in certain dynamics, and from which there may be important lessons to be learnt.

International – Local Civil Society Gaps
A further challenge is the disconnection between international groups and local civil society. Many international organisations find it difficult to link with Southern Sudanese civil society, or have difficulty accessing the wide range of groups in existence. Each organisation tends to focus on sector specific work and so their links are formed within these sectors and local civil society coalescence around international support enhances theses existing sectoral divisions.

There is in existence an NGO coordination forum that brings together more than 100 NGOs; however this forum does not include media, non-registered community groups, law associations, academics and other networks. As a result of this lack of linkage, many international groups undertaking policy and advocacy work overlook the views, analysis and role of local civil society, marginalising them even further. Many international reports on the situation in Sudan for example, address the international community and the Government of Southern Sudan, without any mention of local civil society initiatives or potentials.

Information received by civil society is also quite limited, although partly mitigated by the NGO Forum group which provides daily updates. However policy documents, analysis and opinion on Sudanese affairs, which is distributed through informal networks between international organisations, rarely reaches civil society, limiting their knowledge and stunting their engagement. Similarly Sudanese analysis and information remains circulated within Sudanese networks, limiting international access to these views and updates.

Linking Civil Society and International Organisations / Donors
To this end, Justice Africa has been actively linking local civil society with international organisations and donors. Justice Africa has held regular meetings with a number of international groups, discussing civil society work, ongoing initiatives and needs for additional support. As a result there has been a high level of interest generated and connections made between the Coalition, its members and international groups. In addition Justice Africa runs a mailing list with more than 100 recipients, distributing news, analysis and information to local civil society, in an attempt to engage and inform Sudanese civil society. This simple yet effective tool has greatly increased the political engagement of members, and is much appreciated by readers.

Justice Africa has slowly become a reference point for internationals seeking linkage to civil society, as well as those seeking better understanding of civil society dynamics and advice on international initiatives in support of civil society. Currently a number of international groups are in discussions with Justice Africa and the taskforce committee on how to support the Civil Society Coalition including UNMIS Civil Affairs, Oxfam and Cordaid. Justice Africa has provided advice and linkage to civil society groups to a number of international organisations including MercyCorps, Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, the Open Society Institute, UNMIS Civil Affairs, Saferworld, DeD and Adam Smith International. A number of international organisations are also closely following the development of the coalition and interested to link their work with it, once it has formally opened up to international collaboration, including DeD, Saferworld, Oxfam and ICCO. Justice Africa has facilitated a number of civil society groups to link to donors such as Pact Sudan, UNMIS Civil Affairs and the National Endowment for Democracy.

Civil Society and the Government of Southern Sudan

The relations between civil society and the government was an area of major concern for civil stakeholders, raised both in consultations and meetings. There is a consensus that a major role for civil society should be as a watchdog of the government and other actors, but so far the role of civil society in shaping the regional agenda has been marginal. Corruption and bad practices both by the government and international players are not regulated, allowing for such practices to go unchecked.

The trend over the last years is that active and experienced civil society activists have taken up positions in the GoSS. Some feel that this was an active strategy of the government to weaken civil society, which is telling in itself; others stress that leading civil society activists who took up positions in the government failed to ensure that their respective organisations were sufficiently supported to transition to new leadership. Thus, civic activism has been transferred to and submerged within the political sphere – both a reflection of the absorption of civil society into the Government, as well as the lack of ‘space’ for civic actors outside the political arena. It is also of importance to note that civic actors are themselves inherently political and politicised during this precarious, politically complex and important time in Southern Sudan’s history.

The minimal consultation with civil society in decision making and information sharing by the government is of serious concern; this, like the problematic international and local linkage, has a two-way ‘chicken and egg’ explanation. Civil society is not strongly organised, mobilised and visible and therefore linking with civil society requires some exertion on the part of the government which has its own very complex set of challenges, leaving little time to actively pursue a governance approach than includes serious consultation with civil society. Secondly, the arena for civil society action has not yet been opened up – partly due to some resistance from within the government that is still evolving from a militarised governance structure. Such resistance often creates unwillingness within civil society to confront issues with the government openly and so a self-perpetuating cycle is in motion.

This is not to say that there is no manner in which to influence government policy and decision making. Informal lobbying has been and continues to be an important mechanism used by Southern Sudanese. Relations and connections to individuals in the government create easy access to policy makers and are often used by civic actors as a method of lobbying. Yet this remains an option only for those who have connections and access – a limited selection of stakeholders – and there is a good possibility that this could develop into a more long term and permanent system of elitist decision making.

Government – civil society linkage is an activity that a number of international organisations are undertaking to strengthen, through the creation of formal forums. It is as yet unclear what the repercussions of strengthening formal institutionalised mechanisms for government and civil society interaction would be, and how effectively this would improve policy and decision making remains to be seen.

Taking into account the sensitivity of the situation, and the possibility for repercussions on civic activists, the approach of Justice Africa has been to build on informal personal networks, bringing key government officials into contact with civil society stakeholders more regularly and keeping officials informed of activities. Just as it is necessary to strengthen the personal relationships between civil society actors in order to build genuine and lasting cohesiveness, slowly and regularly bringing government actors in contact with civil society actors will hopefully create and/or strengthen civil society – government networks and links.

The resistance to civic activism within GoSS, for example an aversion to public marches or demonstrations, has often resulted in harsh policing of such actions. This gives many actors justified reasons for hesitancy to act publicly; a slow opening of space through this more informal approach is therefore a good method for civic actors to build confidence and engage constructively with government.

Civil Society Capacity Building

As mentioned in the problems’ table earlier, a lot of attention is currently given to building civil society capacity in fundraising and project cycle management. Yet it is important to stress that before civil society can hope to develop a vision for their role in the transition and more generally their role in Southern Sudan, it is important that they first of all understand that there is a debate around much of the work that they are involved in, that they explore these debates and then decide on how they can best move forward. There has been little space for civil society to collectively think-through the fundamental issues they must tackle, debate and discuss them, and then, learning from other experiences, identify their own unique ‘Southern Sudanese’ way forward.

Without such critical exploration and discussion, any work civil society pursues will be uninformed in a certain sense. Justice Africa has therefore developed a capacity building approach that fully enables civil society to consciously choose their way forward, rather than providing them with training that shapes their actions and processes in a particular manner. This capacity building takes the shapes of a seminar series. There are a number of valuable results that can hopefully be achieved in this process:
1. Bringing the Debate to the People Affected Most
A number of critical debates surround issues in which civil society traditionally plays a role, yet the debate remains fixed at the higher levels of governance and academic forums (largely in Western countries). The Seminar Series is an opportunity to bring the debate to the people who are often affected most by such concepts and policies, in order for them to better explore alternatives and options for progress.
2. Building Cohesion and Solidarity
Solidarity is a vital component of a strong and active civil society. Cooperation and support between different types of civic stakeholders means that agendas can be pursued more effectively. Bringing people together in an open forum for thought and learning helps to build this cohesion, through relationship building and dialogue.
3. Helping to link international NGOs with local civil society
Understanding of local perspectives enhances international ability to understand and respond to needs. The Seminar Series will provide international groups with the opportunity to meet various Sudanese groups, learn about the many different views held by Southern Sudanese civil society and to engage in discussions on what could be way forwards for South Sudan; enhancing the work that all stakeholders undertake.
4. Making People Think
Perhaps the best form of engaging and strengthening civil society is through inspiring thought; and learning in an open intellectual forum takes place for everyone: both lecturer and attendee. Valuable insights can be gained at many levels, for all concerned.

Already a good level of interest has been generated with many international organisations currently working with civil society, as well as donors and other interested parties expressing an interest in leading lectures and discussions. This process is currently beginning.