August 22nd 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan government has created a conducive environment for the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement signed with opposition groups last year, the regional bloc IGAD said.
Under regional and international pressure, South Sudan government and opposition groups signed a revitalized version of a 2015 peace deal to end the war in September last year.
Parties to the agreement were supposed to form a unity government in May, but delays in critical pre-transitional activities made it impossible for the parties to meet the dateline.
They instead met in Addis Ababa in early May to postpone the government formation for November 2019, a six-month period which may allow the parties to end pending tasks.
However, as it is only three months away from the November 12th dateline, the regional bloc which mediated the agreement said no progress was being made and called for the parties’ meeting in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.
In a communique issued following the meeting, IGAD acknowledged that the government in Juba has created a conducive environment for peace implementation and for opposition leaders.
It also expressed appreciation for opposition leaders for moving and working from Juba, something which it said highlights the commitment of the parties to the peace implementation.
“[The IGAD] welcomes the conducive environment the Government has created for the implementation of the R-ARCSS [and] recognizes and commends representatives of the opposition parties for moving back and working from Juba,” the communique partly read.
The regional leaders furthers took note “of the progress made in the implementation of the R-ARCSS [and] appreciates the cordial and constructive manner with which the Parties conducted the consultation meeting.”
