17 September 2012 - By beginning to develop a national security policy, South Sudan was moving in a direction other African countries were just beginning to understand, a leading scholar said today in Juba.

"Other African countries have steered forward without a policy, but it is a costly process," Professor Eboe Hutchfal, Chair of the Africa Security Sector Network (ASSN), said today at the launch of the policy development process.

"If governments cannot develop other sectors such as agriculture, health and education without policies, why leave out the security policy, which is imperative for the other sectors to succeed?" he asked.

Professor Hutchfal commended the South Sudanese government for emerging as "a leader and a visionary".

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Hilde F. Johnson said the policy development served as an essential benchmark for advancing establishment of security and rule of law, and as a cornerstone for the country's long-term development.

"This policy is significant, not only because it will guide the development of the country's security institutions, but will also be responsible for best ensuring that they are effective, coherent, accountable and responsive to the needs of the people of South Sudan, the ultimate beneficiaries of this process," Ms. Johnson said.

Presidential Legal Advisor Tella Ring Deng, who represented South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, said policy development process would include broad consultations in Juba as well as state and county levels.

"We must place emphasis on consulting stakeholders – the very people that the policy seeks to protect," he said. "The process has to be driven by South Sudan but it shouldn't be divorced from foreign, economic and regional policies."

It is expected that a draft policy will be presented to the Council of Ministers and then the National Legislative Assembly for approval in 2013. Once adopted, the National Security Policy will become a public document and reference for contextual review of other texts, like the Sudan People's Liberation Army white paper, which will become a defence policy.

The Government of South Sudan is being supported in this endeavour by UNMISS, the governments of Norway and the United Kingdom and the African Security Sector network.