In line with the organization vision and mission, SSuDEMOP believes that a genuine democratic state is what South Sudanese people need. Therefore, governance processes in the country requires to be tailored to facilitate democratization. Hence the need for establishing mechanisms to facilitate a true participatory governance in the country; citizen participation, good governance, legitimate politics and credible polity that seek to address the needs of the people is a critical element of democracy. Prudent resource management regardless of perceived privilege enjoyed by those who belong to the “appropriate ethnic community” “ideal social class” or “perceived magnitude of historical contribution to the liberation of the country”.

Governance and Democracy programmes at SSuDEMOP are designed to provide civic education, strengthen capacity of different actors, influence policy and legislative reform, analyze various governance and public policy issues, critic and advice governance and public management processes with an aim of safeguarding public interest/common good. In doing so SSuDEMOP use a participatory approach for designing and implementing programmes.

As an organization SSuDEMOP is well aware about the difficulties of democratization and transformation that South Sudanese are undergoing - from a liberation movement to a state. However, knowing that South Sudan have experienced dictatorship, discrimination, oppression and marginalization under the past regimes in the then Republic of Sudan before attaining independence, it is undeniable that the people of South Sudan yearn for equality, justice, liberty and prosperity for all. It is also of interest to see citizens being given an opportunity to get involved in the governance of their country and be part and parcel of major national decisions that affect all South Sudanese and enjoy the values and fruits of democracy.

Several years after independence and decades of war, the government of the new nation struggles to meet the high expectations of both its citizens and the international community. Problems with internal security (community-based conflicts), external security (Conflict of border with Sudan) financial constraints and the continuous inadequate public accountability (corruption), continues to pose a challenge to peace and security governance in the country. With the developments in Sudan and the dynamics of the conflict in Sudan, South Sudan as many other neighboring countries will be faced with influx of refugees and expected to manage the situation in a conflict sensitive manner. SSuDEMOP is well aware that most of these challenges can only be addressed by the national government but the role of citizens can never be under stated in local efforts intended to mitigate conflict and foster peaceful coexistence.

Aware of the fact that South Sudan in the last few years have seen some of the most rapid growth in the population of foreign nationals, internal human migration which translates to over stretching of basic social services and opportunities in other parts of the country, SSuDEMOP is eager to contribute towards peaceful coexistence among the citizens and create a platform for peaceful and yet constructive interaction among citizen through consultative public meetings, town hall meetings, training, developing policy briefs to amplify plights of communities on specific issues, collection, collate, compile and publish citizen concerns over specific issues that affect peaceful coexistence. As an organization, SSuDEMOP endeavor to bring the aspect of conflict mitigation to the nation building process in South Sudan.

South Sudan gained its independence on the 9 th July 2011 and with this came many challenges that a new nation is expected to handle. Notwithstanding the fact that the country is emerging from a background which was characterized by strong Islamic influence in national governance coupled with several negative cultural believes and practices which had and still do influence the way women are treated or generally perceived in South Sudan. SSuDEMOP is keen to create avenues for addressing the historical gender-based discrimination and marginalization of a group in the society, based on what the society defines to be their role.

At SSuDEMOP, there is a general realization that South Sudanese society is predominantly patriarchal. This has significantly contributed in shaping decisions and perceptions in the country at various levels including governance at national level. Therefore, SSuDEMOP acknowledges the involvement of men and women who understand the importance of gender mainstreaming and create an enabling environment for realizing gender balance in our society. In this respect, SSuDEMOP have set out to implement advocacy projects/initiatives that are intended to educate the public on the significance of the role women and men in political, economic, social and cultural development of the society.

SSuDEMOP is cognizant of the challenges in attempting to accomplish women’s emancipation and gender mainstreaming given the devastating effect of the over two-decade civil war, existing negative customary practices among the communities, uneven political playground for men and women and low levels of education among women. In the long run, more men and women are expected to be given same opportunities to compete for employment and other appointments based on merit and women's rights sufficiently enshrined in the constitution. So as to address the existing gender disparity in the society, SSuDEMOP planning processes are always aware of the gender aspect of the project and how to mainstream gender and inculcate the same thinking in the younger generations to come. SSuDEMOP believe that women’s rights are human rights, so are the rights of men.

South Sudan Democratic Engagement, Monitoring and Observation Programme SSuDEMOP was established as a consortium of civil society organizations drawing its membership from Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs) Youth groups, Women Associations, Individual Activists and Faith Based Organization/Institutions. To date, this history has continued to shape relationship, interaction and programming pattern of the organization. SSuDEMOP was registered under the Southern Sudan NGO Act of 2008 and later the South Sudan NGO Act of 2016 and has been in operation since 2009.

SSuDEMOP can broadly be categorized as an advocacy organization that focus on human and civil rights. The organization strive to Mobilize Citizens, Empower Voices so as to meaningfully contribute in shaping the future of South Sudan. SSuDEMOP is involved in several national processes which serve as a direct contribution to state and nation building processes in the country. In the resent years, the organization has played an instrumental role in legislative reforms and shaping the legislative landscape in the country. SSuDEMOP has emerged as a leading agency and champion for rights based and participatory governance in the country.

Since the organization was launching in March 2009, SSuDEMOP has been operational in all states through coordination committees in the ten (10) states of South Sudan and selected locations in the country. SSuDEMOP’s strategy is to work with existent structure hence, from among the membership of the coordination committees, an organization and a staff is identified as SSuDEMOP state coordinator for that particular state by the state coordination committee in each location. The state coordinators serve as a link between SSuDEMOP Secretariat in Juba and the wider population at the grassroots. It is important to acknowledge the unique attributes of the state coordination committees through their spirit of voluntarism.

SSuDEMOP observed and monitored the entire process of the 2010 Sudan General Elections in all the ten states and, the 2011 Southern Sudan Referendum for Self-determination in the ten (10) states and polling centers in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. The organization has engaged in several national processes and was among the lead civil society organizations to demand acreditation for civil society representatives as negotiators during 2014/15 peace talks and caused the national budget 2018/19 to be subjected for public hearing for the first time in the history of South Sudan. With other civil society organizations, successfully negotiated for tax drop on diapers and sanitary towels after submitting a written analysis on the same budget to the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Economic Planning.

SSuDEMOP has been holding public consultations on specific topics of public interest. In the past the organization held several Town Hall meetings when the civic space could support, which generated recommendations to be used in enhancing national processes. SSuDEMOP currently represents civil society in the oversite committee for Public Finance Management Reform process in the country. In 2022, SSuDEMOP facilitated a five (5) member team of civil society activists as independent and international election observation team to observe the Kenyan General Elections in August 2022.

After the Election and referendum which was successfully conducted and monitored by SSuDEMOP in 2010 and 2011 respectively, the organization has maintained focus on enhancing both political and legal conditions for elections. With this, SSuDEMOP was able to conduct several activities in the last few years.

SSuDEMOP has been following several electoral processes and managed to send a team of civil society actors as international observers to Kenyan election -2022 and was involved in development and review of South Sudan National Elections Act 2012.

Therefore, SSuDEMOP’s role in elections and electoral processes have continued to be relevant and critical for the upcoming general elections.