Background

The AU Liaison Office in South Sudan, Juba was opened in 2008 pursuant to the communiqué issued at the 89th meeting of the AU PSC held on 24 August 2007. The Juba office supported the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement [CPA] with respect to South Sudan. Furthermore, the Office has, under the general supervision of the AU Liaison Office in the Sudan-Khartoum, monitored the political, social, economic and security situation in South Sudan. Among others, it facilitated the observation missions of the African Union during the 2010 elections and the 2011 referendum of South Sudan, two major benchmarks of the CPA. With the establishment of the AU High Level Implementation Panel on Sudan in October 2009, the mandate of the Juba office was expanded to include the support to the Panel in its facilitation of the implementation of the CPA and the negotiations on post-referendum arrangements.

Main Objectives (Vision and Mission)

After the independence of South Sudan, the AU set a strategic objective to promote two viable Countries, Sudan and South Sudan, living at peace with one another and maintaining cordial neighborly relations. The full implementation by the two States of outstanding CPA issues and post-independence matters assures the possibility of this objective.

The Office in Juba will, among others, continue to focus on the following issues:

  • Monitor the overall political and security situation in South Sudan and report to Headquarters, articulating and proposing options with the view to providing best practices and other means of helping the South Sudanese Authorities in their efforts to build a viable Nation;
  • Assess the implementation of the outstanding CPA issues and post-independence matters, including on the political and security situations between the two States, Abyei,  the North-South border, and economic and natural resources issues, and providing relevant periodic reports on progress and challenges to AU policy organs;
  • Support, in close collaboration with the AU Liaison Office in the Sudan-Khartoum, and the broad international community, policies and mechanisms of the AU with the view to fostering and strengthening good relations between Sudan and South Sudan.
  • Collaborate with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to mobilize support from national and international partners to assist South Sudan in its efforts to promote peace and security and bring to its people the much expected dividends of peace and independance especially in relation to challenges in humanitarian assistance, recovery and development, as well as the effective reintegration of refugees, IDPs and demobilized combatants in their respective communities with the ultimate objective of averting internal conflicts.
  • Facilitate the work of the AU Ministerial Committee on Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development and of other fact-finding missions to South Sudan in regard to assuring the effective implementation of Quick Impact Projects (QiPs) in communities in South Sudan
  • Generally represent the AU in all aspects of South Sudan development.

Contact Information

Address of the Office: Plot No. 167, Tong-Ping (1st Class) Residential Area, 
P.O. Box 341, Juba, South Sudan