LocationsThe South Sudan Election Security Committee Unveil Critical Security Assessment for 2026 Elections.
July 29, 2025
Members of the Election Security committee following the presentation of Assessment Report
As part of preparations for the general elections scheduled for December 2026, the Election Security Committee (ESC), chaired by the National Police Service (NPS), and including representatives of the National Elections Commission (NEC) and the UN Integrated Electoral Assistance Team (UN IEAT) conducted assessments of NPS premises in 10 states and the Ruweng Administrative Area to assess the requirements for the re-establishment of Joint Electoral Operations Centers (JEOCs) across the country. The assessment exercise began in February 2025 and was completed in July 2025, with plans to visit Pibor in August 2025.
The establishment of JEOCs at the national and sub-national level are an important security, information sharing and coordination mechanism amongst relevant electoral stakeholders, including the NEC, NPS, civil society, faith base groups, local administrators and political parties. The assessments, conducted under the leadership of NPS, in partnership with the NEC and UN IEAT, revealed that in all locations visited the pre-existing JEOC structures utilized for the 2010 elections and the 2011 referendum were badly damaged during the 2013 conflict, hence will require reconstruction and refurbishing.
The NPS and NEC expect the JEOCs to play an essential role as the key mechanism for election security coordination, including prevention of electoral violence and support election security operations. The recommendation of the ESC is to re-establish JEOCs in all states and administrative areas for election security coordination and support the building of trust and confidence for a credible, inclusive and peaceful electoral process across the country.
On 24 July 2025, under the auspices of the IGP, the Elections Security Committee presented the findings of the JEOCs assessment report to the Acting Minister of Interior, the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission, representatives of civil society and the Senior Leadership of the National Police Service to raise awareness around the status of and the urgent need to allocate adequate funding and resources for elections security preparations more broadly and specifically for the reconstruction and refurbishment of such electoral security structures.
