"Turning the Tide: Building a clean oil sector through South Sudan’s Peace Agreement"

On August 27 2015 the leaders of the world’s youngest country signed an Agreement designed to bring to an end its devastating civil war. At independence in 2011, hopes were high that South Sudan’s oil wealth would help provide the development its citizens had been denied by 30 years of conflict. Instead, fewer than three years later, mismanagement and looting of this resource stoked the acute grievances which led the country back to war.

The Peace Agreement recognises that for there to be a sustainable peace in the country, the Transitional Government must fundamentally overhaul the way the state is run— including, critically, how oil dollars are collected, accounted for and spent...

In order for the Agreement to be successful...[t]ransparency throughout the implementation of the Peace Agreement and oil sector reform is critical. Public confidence in the Government and its institutions is low following decades of conflict and corruption.