On Monday 18th September 2023, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) began a one week journey of a workshop, with experts from Finland to foster strategic foresight in partnership the Ministry of Public Service and Human Resources Development for national leaders and experts in Juba, South Sudan. The over 300 invited participants included Undersecretaries and Director Generals from all national ministries.

Aimed at elevating the capacity of the Government of South Sudan through the use foresight in policy making and strategy, the workshop also entailed, training of trainers and simulations of scenarios, exercises and skills to anticipate and mitigate risk to benefit the country through foresight approaches and processes.

‘’The world today is facing multiple crisis and government’s need to have the ability to foresee these possibilities to advance the preparedness of the state to form a more positive outcome’’, said Mikel the foresight expert (name of company).  

Hon. Filista Bayo, the newly appointed Undersecretary for Public Service and Human Resources Development said that the workshop on foresight was very important for them because they (undersecretaries) are the formulators, advisors and implementers of policies in the country.

Also in attendance was also Hon.  Secretary General for Cabinet Affairs who called out on the workshop participants to fully apply what they learn from the training, noting that many have attended such insightful trainings but a system to ensure the implementation is not in place.

Dr. Samuel Doe, the Resident Representative of UNDP, began his remarks by thanking the Ministry of Public Service and Human Resources Development for organizing the forum and further said, ‘’dozens of governments globally are building capacities to become more vision-driven, anticipatory and proactive in their operations, therefore this training was of critical importance.’’ In conclusion, the Resident Representative thanked the Federal Republic of Germany, Qatar and Italy for their generous support towards this activity and the government of South Sudan.

Hon. Bangasi Joseph Bakosoro, National Minister of Public Service who officiated the event appreciated UNDP for their continuous support and encouraged the Undersecretaries towards continuous learning through such workshops so as to remain effective in their institutions. The Ministers also encouraged the Undersecretaries to speak up and advise their Ministries while working together with the Director Generals.