The UN Mission in South Sudan's new civilian protection strategy perpetuates expectations it will never be able to meet. However, notwithstanding existing challenges, improvements to the mission's current performance in this area seem feasible, according to a new CRU Policy Brief.

Monday July 9th 2012 marked South Sudan's first anniversary as an independent state. But one year down the road, what is there to celebrate for this newborn polity? Faced with political instability and enduring external and domestic threats to its security, the nascent state of South Sudan has evolved into a patronage and crisis management tool for the ruling elite, putting the benefits of governance well beyond the reach of the majority of the population.

Input paper accompanying a policy seminar on the question of how the EU could assist in supporting governance capacities to better manage resource policies in African countries. In this respect it is analysed if and how aspects influencing a sustainable resource management are included in current EU-Africa policies, how the transparency directive might help in avoiding the resource curse, and how support to African governments could contribute to improving resource governance. The contributrion of the emerging economies, notably China, to resource governance is also taken into account.