October 15, 2021 (JUBA) – A South Sudanese non-profit organization, the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, calls on the parties to the peace agreement to implement the Revitalized Agreement of the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan(R-ARCISS) in letter and spirit.
According to CEPO, the leaders must demonstrate a political will that is required to fully implement what they signed in Khartoum and Addis Ababa in 2018.
“Parties to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan’s should demonstrate the political will required for the full implementation of the peace deal” Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) said on Friday.
In September 2018, South Sudan’s warring parties signed a peace accord to end a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced over 4 millions others.
So far the revitalized peace agreement is not fully revitalized but also not fully dead, leaving the country in a state of no war and no peace.
a Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGNoNU) was formed in February 2020 in accordance with the peace deal; however, very little has been achieved as both the national and state legislative assemblies are just but symbolic.
The CEPO commends the parties to the peace agreement for the little success registered in reconstituting the revitalized transitional government of national unity at national and state levels but calls for parties to inject in more energy to get the tasks done.
“Concerns still remain on delays to reconstitute independent commissions at the national level as well as the reconstitution of state legislative assemblies and local government legislative councils.” CEPO statement added.
The delays in the implementation of the peace deal, especially the security arrangements, has also been expressed by the Revitalized Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC).
According to the CEPO Executive Director, Edmund Yakani, it will be impossible to transition the communities from violence to peace without implementation of the transitional security arrangements.
“Without the genuine implementation of the transitional security arrangements, the pathway to transition societies of South Sudan from violence to peace is very long,” says CEPO’s executive director, Edmund Yakani.
“Political will to implement the transitional security arrangements is required from the parties with the primary responsibility to make peace and security prevail in South Sudan” HE ADDED.
CEPO also acknowledged roles played by the African Union and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to ensure parties involved in South Sudan’s civil war sign the peace accord but urge them to continue pressing pressure on them to ensure they implement what they signed.
