Southern Sudan Water Policy.

This Policy concerns water resources management and water supply and sanitation in Southern Sudan. It is divided into five Chapters: Introduction (1); Government Of Southern Sudan Water Policy (2); Water Resources Management Policy (3); Rural Water Supply And Sanitation Policy (4); Urban Water Supply and Sanitation (5). The purpose of the Policy is to outline the Government of Southern Sudan’s vision for the water sector, and to establish basic principles and objectives to guide future water sector development. The Policy addresses specific issues in relation to three main sub-areas of water policy, i.e. Water Resources Management (WRM), Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS), and Urban Water Supply and Sanitation (UWSS) and establishes guiding principles and objectives in relation to each. It is a first step towards the establishment of a comprehensive regulatory framework for rational management and utilisation of water resources in Southern Sudan; and provides a foundation for future development of more detailed strategies, setting out the institutional, administrative, technical and financial arrangements for policy implementation. An important guiding principle in the process of developing water policy has been involvement of those affected, or their representatives, in assessment of the options on an informed basis. The Policy is to support social development and economic growth by promoting efficient, equitable and sustainable development and use of available water resources, and effective delivery of water and sanitation services in Southern Sudan.
The Policy describes the state of water resources and its use (for, among other things, fisheries, agriculture, forestry and environment) in Southern Sudan. It also outlines the key challenges. The major challenges currently faced in Southern Sudan include: lack of coherent policy framework to guide water sector development; low levels of access to basic water supply and sanitation services; infrastructure; environmental concerns, management and mitigation of water related disasters; water use conflicts; management of trans-boundary waters. General guiding principles concern, among other things, development of the proper legal framework, fair allocation of available resources polluter pays, involvement of all relevant stakeholders in planning. The policy identifies key issues and priorities of water policy including institutional and legal framework for regulating water resources management, risk management and transboundary collaboration. Specific guiding principles and objectives are set out for rural water supply and sanitation. The policy also deals with community participation, gender issues, private sector participation and financing.
The Government of Southern Sudan is committed to ensuring rapidly growing urban populations benefit from access to safe, affordable and reliable water supply and sanitation services. The overall objective of the Urban Water supply and Sanitation (UWSS) policy is to ensure efficient development and management of UWSS services on a sustainable and equitable basis.
Chapter 2 lays down provisions relating to the water policy of the Government of South Sudan. Its most important principle is: "Water must be a lever for peace and not a source of conflict" as it has been in the past. Another important one is that an effective water resources management requires an integrated approach which takes account of hydrological processes and boundaries and recognises linkages with other sectors; or that water sector institutional arrangements shall be streamlined with clear separation of functions relating to resource management and services delivery, and efficient allocation of roles and responsibilities between government and non-government agencies.
Chapter 3 deals specifically with the management of water resources. The overall goal of this Chapter is to promote effective management of quantity, quality and reliability of available water resources in order to maximise social and economic benefits while ensuring long term environmental sustainability. Section 1 outlines the principles of Water Resource Management bearing in mind that integration of different aspects of water resources management is widely recognised as the key to achieving the overall goal.