Land administration challenges in the post-conflict South Sudan : the experience of the USAID South Sudan rural land governance project (2011-2014)

Marongwe, Nelson

South Sudan is a country coming from a conflict, having attained political independence as recently as July 2011. The protracted civil war that lasted for more than twenty years created malfunctioning land administration systems. Thus, decades of civil war destroyed many of South Sudan‟s essential institutions of governance, and not least the customary and statutory systems that allocated land rights and ensured that land holders could use their land to secure livelihoods. Effectively, South Sudan inherited little in terms of a functioning land administration system/bureaucracy from preceding governments. Statutory institutions in the emerging new institutional landscape are a blend of old institutions from the pre-Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005 and the new from the post-CPA political dispensation. Included in the set of old institutions are Ministries and Departments operating at the national and state levels. The set of new institutions is comprised of the South Sudan Land Commission, state-level Land Commissions and various authorities/committees operating at the state and county levels. Many of the new institutions are still evolving, while some are yet to be established. There are also new proposals, with the Draft National Land Policy recommending the creation of a new Ministry of Lands.

Event: Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2013

Document type:Land administration challenges in the post-conflict South Sudan : the experience of the USAID South Sudan rural land governance project (2011-2014) (506 kB - pdf)