Implementing corporate social responsibility in South Sudan: a comparative analysis of CSR policies and practices of oil companies in South Sudan

How can oil companies and consortia working in South Sudan (a newly independent country) better manage and mitigate the social and environmental challenges that so urgently need addressing? This research aims to enhance understandings of the current perceptions and practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of oil companies and consortia in South Sudan.

The document highlights the following findings: 

• companies face very real challenges around community expectation management 
• some companies do not feel that conflict sensitivity falls under their remit as a private enterprise, and so do not take ownership of conflict-related issues
• companies and Joint Operating Companies (JOCs) in the sector have so far been unable to develop strategies and systems to implement, robust CSR initiatives
• accountability between JOCs, companies and government is unclear and possibly causes problems including blurred responsibilities over community and environmental issues
• the lack of usability of global best practices, standards and guidelines from the global CSR sector is evident and could be a barrier to development 
• very little is understood by the companies about stakeholder engagement, prioritisation, and the value of working with other organisations
  

Recommendations are based around four key areas:

• conducting deeper research once the operating environment has stabilised
• increasing the accountability of JOCs and companies on CSR as a first step towards building the capacity of individuals and organisations to better manage and mitigate social and environmental issues
• building capacity of civil society to hold companies and government to account and support CSR objectives, which would help to bridge the information gap and forge trust for the future
• developing consensus around the sector’s national objectives by allowing all parties to collectively determine roles and responsibilities; establishing a multi-stakeholder oil national working group could be an option