Based in New York, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has been working in the Sudan since the 1980s. During this time, this Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) has shown itself to be a leader in its field. Funded by numerous agencies and aiding hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries, IRCs role in Sudan is constantly growing. Poised between the people whom it serves and the Government of Sudan, in whose territory it operates, the NGO roles as advocates and social service providers places them in a challenging position.<p> Since the first international NGOs entered Sudan during the great famine and war in the 1980s, the government has become increasingly suspicious of their actions. More recently, however, NGOs have become more commonplace in Sudan, funding and managing many of the social programmes in the country, including education, health care, water and sanitation and even infrastructure projects. This presence in the country has lent international political clout to NGOs, but has created resentment by the Sudanese government.<p> This situation is not unique. Around the globe many countries are being pressured by NGOs to alter policy direction. The concept of good governance has become prevalent in Western funding departments and donor organisations, calling for its use to encourage governments to become more democratic. In order to access funding, NGOs must therefore shift their focus to a greater emphasis on good governance as well. This is indeed the case of the IRC whose broad mission includes strengthening civil society and enabling good governance in Sudan.<p> The strong presence of NGOs combined with the sheer number of people they serve, the types of services that they provide, and their influence both nationally and internationally has lent credibility to the belief that these organisations are important entities in Sudan. However, the ability to carry out their mandates in times of emergencies and crisis is challenging as they must work within the constructs of the communities in which they serve and with the government of Sudan, which controls several of their activities.

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Local government is an important level of participatory democracy, where communities play an active role not only as the electorate, but also as end-users and consumers, and thereby holding their municipal councils accountable for their actions. Given the above statement, the interim Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011, entrusts local government with the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner. It also provides for the promotion of social and economic development and the promotion of a safe and healthy environment. This also entails the need for a commitment to service delivery hence, public representatives and public officials must take seriously their obligation to render services to the people that could be in the form of ensuring that refuse gets collected, electricity being supplied and other services rendered which better the general welfare of citizens. There are several definitions of public participation, but it can be defined as a process of empowering citizens by involving them in making decisions on all issues that concern them, which can be political, social or economic. The main aim of this study was to, investigate and identify the nature and extent of integrated participatory planning in Yei River County and the extent to which opportunities for public participation are accessible to the communities. The study sought to investigate: How different stakeholders in the community in Yei River County make use of public participation opportunities during the integrated participatory planning process? As such, the main objectives of the study were to; to assess the existing integrated participatory planning practices in Yei River County, to examine and evaluate how the existing integrated participatory planning practices influence service delivery in Yei River County and lastly to identify the barriers to effective integrated participatory planning in YRC and advance recommendations for improvement. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were used and data was collected from a sample of two hundred and twenty-six (226) public officials, comprising of Local Government officials, County councillors and members of the public. Results from the data collected using open and close-ended questionnaires, showed that public participation is very important in local government planning as it leads to incorporation of public suggestions and interests in the development strategies. The results further showed that public meetings and workshops were the only public participation mechanisms being used by Yei River County. The study therefore recommended among other things that, Yei River County should strengthen public participation in integrated participatory planning by providing adequate skilled human resources and establishing structures, as well as public participation mechanisms at the Payam and Boma levels. It was also recommended that the communities needed to utilise all available mechanisms of participation to ensure maximum participation during the integrated participatory planning processes.

This Study was conducted in Yei River County, Central Equatoria State the Republic of South Sudan from July-December/2012 under the topic: Examining the role of Local Government County Legislative Council in promoting service delivery. The Legislative Council in Yei was established since 2007 inaccordance with the provisions of the Transition Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011:166, LG Act, 2009:8-29 and Governors’ Decree dated 25/August/2007 with the mandate to enact laws and policies and supervise the Executive to implement its decisions. The study investigated into why there was under performance of Legislative Council in promoting service delivery in Yei River County (YRC) and how can service delivery be improved in YRC. The findings revealed that, the capacity of the Council is low in making appropriate decisions and supervising the Executive to implement its decisions, it lacks the necessary working requirements to facilitate its duties, some of its directives are not implemented by the Executive and negative attitudes towards the work of the Council by some members of the Executive. Despite the difficulties encountered, the Council was able to enact 31 laws, conducted some joint consultative meetings on County projects and the study recommended that, the relevant institutions of Local Government to review the irregularities in the Local Government Act of 2009 to regulate the duties of the Council and to guide the recruitment of the future Councillors, training of the Councillors to improve performance, improve the working conditions of the Council, conduct public awareness on the role of the Council and promotion of exchange programs for further learning purposes. The significance of this study is that, the topic was good according to the participants, the recommendations of the study may be adopted by the Local Government Authorities to address the identified gaps and challenges facing the Council not only in Yei River County but also in other parts of the Country and finally, the report may be used by the University of Fort Hare for further Academic purposes and/or other interested individuals/institutions or organizations of the same or similar objectives.

This study examines the role of customary courts in the delivery of justice in South Sudan. In doing so, it analyses the legal background, the hierarchy and composition of the customary courts. The considerations behind the constitutional recognition of the customary law courts in the current constitutional dispensation and the jurisdiction of customary courts are limited to customary matters and only criminal cases with a customary interface. It is noted that the customary Judges do not only exercise judicial functions but also play executive and legislative functions which contravene the constitutional principle of separation of powers. Reconciliation and compensation are noted as the major principles applied in the customary law courts. The major concern is that most practices in the customary law courts violate fundamental human rights. / Public, Constitutional and International Law / LLM

This study examines the role of customary courts in the delivery of justice in South Sudan. In doing so, it analyses the legal background, the hierarchy and composition of the customary courts. The considerations behind the constitutional recognition of the customary law courts in the current constitutional dispensation and the jurisdiction of customary courts are limited to customary matters and only criminal cases with a customary interface. It is noted that the customary Judges do not only exercise judicial functions but also play executive and legislative functions which contravene the constitutional principle of separation of powers. Reconciliation and compensation are noted as the major principles applied in the customary law courts. The major concern is that most practices in the customary law courts violate fundamental human rights. / Public, Constitutional and International Law / LL. M.