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On 12 December 2019 in Juba, over 80 stakeholders in South Sudan’s cultural and creative industries sector, including the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and other ministry representatives, the European Union, civil society organizations, NGOS, media and universities, participated in the launching ceremony of a new UNESCO/EU project to design a copyright policy for the cultural and creative industries in South Sudan.

“The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports has a responsibility to respond to the needs of the sector and the design of the copyright policy can’t wait,” said the Under Secretary of Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Mr. Kuac Wek Wol. “Currently, we have legal issues in the country over lack of due acknowledgement of authorship of products”, he added.

“This is one of the important process in nation building and we would like to encourage all our stakeholders who would be part of this process to contribute to the development of this framework,” said Dr Nadia Arop Dudi, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. “There is no nation without a legislation, we need a copyright policy to support the cultural and creative industries so that creators get remunerations for their work”, she added.

“The European Union is pleased to be part of the nation building processes in South Sudan by supporting dynamic systems of governance for culture”, said Dr. Sinead WALSH, EU Ambassador to South Sudan. “There is a huge potential of the cultural and creative sector to contribute to sustainable development in South Sudan. Developing this copyright policy will ensure the rights of professionals in the sector are protected”, she added.

The Head of Office and UNESCO Country Representative to South Sudan Mr. Julius Banda, said, “UNESCO is committed to supporting South Sudan with ensuring active engagement of a diversity of voices in policy design and implementation, which is essential for transparent and participatory policy making in line with the guidance of the UNESCO 2005 Convention.”

“We are optimistic of the potential role played by the cultural and creative industries in the economic and sustainable development of South Sudan”, said Mr. Becu Thomas, National Culture Programme Officer for UNESCO Juba.