Overview:

• Recognition and registration are amalgamated rather than ideally differentiated; there is a focus on legal registration while few to no means of existential recognition are offered.

• Beyond Liberia and Palau, South Sudan has the highest registration fee for religious organisations in the world.

• Demands of multiple procedures for registration for different aspects of any religious group is onerous.

• Fairly unique is South Sudan's requirement that foreign religious groups provide proof of their prior registration with another government as part of the registration process.

• Informational requirements seem appropriate but will require continued monitoring to ensure they are not unduly expanded any further or are not misapplied to the detriment of religious groups.

• The reports that many religious groups operate without registration demonstrates a breakdown within the recognition system, particularly regarding its efficacy; essentially, reports that many groups bypass registration is not necessarily a positive sign as it shows a lack of engagement between religious organisations and the government as well as the onerousness of the requirements.

Positive elements:

• Horizontal recognition is in effect.

Recommendations:

• Establish a reorganised recognition system that can bestow both existential recognition and legal registration simultaneously and one that offers these to all belief systems equally.

• Reduce the excessive registration fee presently imposed.