National REDD+ Strategy/Action Plan
Initial targeted support was provided to enhance stakeholder engagement in forest governance and REDD+ in response to specific technical and capacity needs identified by the country to strengthen national REDD+ readiness. Understanding and capacity were built on the importance of forests and the REDD+ mechanism and its challenges and opportunities for South Sudan were identified and platforms for stakeholder engagement strengthened. While the targeted support started before 2015, the country build on this further in 2015 by developing training manuals and awareness raising materials to further enhance the work on stakeholder engagement in REDD+.

An ongoing Country Needs Assessment is aiming to identify South Sudan’s needs and opportunities to engage in or complete REDD+ readiness and assess the stages of readiness. This
may inform tailored support according to specific national circumstances. The assessment methodology was established based on consensus among and consultation of 50 stakeholders from the Executive and Legislative branches of government, civil society, international development partners and donor community during inception workshop and initial exploratory mission to Juba. The methodology will seek to establish a priority needs matrix outlining technical, institutional and financial needs as well as highlighting opportunities for REDD+ readiness objectives to be embedded in on-going policy and legislative framework reviews and actions on the ground.