Our Uniqueness, Strengths & Strategies | Governance and Human Rights Association (GOHURA)

1. Sustainable: GOHORA will put much consideration to the long-term impact of decisions (e.g. potential to result in conflict; risk to the environment; incurring debt for future generations);
2. Participatory: GOHURA will work with individuals and groups of people to influence decision-making to brake power relations. Women and men not only take part but have influence over the decisions which are made, affecting their lives, their implementation and evaluation. Conditions are created for women and men to participate in decisions that affect their lives through open, transparent processes.
3. Dialogue: GOHURA will prioritize dialogue as a strategy to bring two or more groups together to discuss and agree to resolve issues peacefully.
4. Partnerships and collaboration: GOHURA will partner and collaborate with all stakeholders including government, other CSOs, development partners, community structures etc. – working side-by-side to constructively contribute to societal transformation, conflict resolution and development. Even on issues where GOHURA may not agree with its partners, it will seek to provide constructive rather than confrontational criticism.
5. Proactive response: GOHURA will use its research and related program interventions to predict and trigger response to emerging concerns in society with the aim of address those concerns and mitigating potential negative consequences.
6. Evidence based advocacy: GOHURA will lead advocacy efforts to draw attention of relevant authorities to issues of public importance with the aim of providing solutions.
7. Effective dissemination of reliable public information: GOHURA will use media, public events and other suitable means of communication to disseminate public information especially to people in rural areas. The purpose of this initiative is to empower citizens and encourage them to participate in public affairs particularly issues that affect their lives.

GOHURA draws its inspiration from the historical and foundational promises of the South Sudanese nation and above all the Charters and Protocol the Country has sign into.

South Sudan is a party to the;

• African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa,
• The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol,
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol,
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa.
• Relevant rules of customary international human rights law are also applicable.
• The Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) of South Sudan in 2018 also accessed to two of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child – on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography – as well as to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its Protocol.

South Sudan’s has also ratified two international covenants in June 2019 which require states to protect and respect the human rights of their people;

• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and their respective First Optional Protocols without reservations.

The ICCPR and ICESCR are among nine core United Nations human rights treaties that give legal force to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

o The ICCPR requires states to protect and respect their citizens’ civil and political rights, such as the right to political participation, equality, freedom of thought, religion and expression and freedom from torture and other inhuman treatment.
o The ICESCR is crucial to enabling people to live with dignity and covers important areas of public policy such as the right to work under fair and just conditions and an adequate standard of living as well as access to social security, health and education.

For South Sudan to make a remarkable change, it is important that efforts are exerted on building active citizens and effective state. The most important forces for political change often come from below, as citizens organize to shape the direction of their societies for their own freedom, dignity, and prosperity.

Active Citizens: refers to people working together to determine the course of their own lives, fighting for rights and justice in their own societies, holding state, private sector and others to account. Active citizens are not limited to people living in poverty. Members of the middle class often play a vital role in supporting grassroots organizations, helping them deal with those in power, and challenging entrenched attitudes and beliefs among elites.

Effective state: refers to states that can guarantee security, rule of law and can design and deliver welfare to its citizens. History shows that no country has prospered without a state that can actively manage the development process.

Active citizens and effective states are compatible, as well as desirable. The challenge is to combine them as early as possible in a country’s development. This was a missed opportunity in the state formation of South Sudan and has contributed to the on-going crisis.