Feb 27, 2021(Nyamilepedia) — The International Crisis Group (ICG) has urged peace mediators and international powers to push the warring parties in the Greater Equatorian to abide by commitments they already made to respect a ceasefire.
In a report titled ‘South Sudan’s Other War: Resolving the Insurgency in Equatoria’ that was released on Thursday, ICG said that the ongoing rebellion in South Sudan’s Equatorian region is undermining the peace deal the country’s warring parties signed in 2018.
The report called on the country’s partners to broker a deal that will bring rebels into the peace process.
“They should then broker a deal to bring the rebels into the national peace process and, later, the constitutional negotiations that this process calls for.” Reads part of ICG report
“The country’s outside partners should also forge grassroots support for a deal in places affected by conflict,” the report said.
According to the group, the faction opposing the government should be involved in the country’s constitutional negotiations, while forging grassroots support for a deal in places affected by conflict.
The report further noted that many people in the Equatorian region feel that the region has been excluded from negotiations to end the civil war, which helps explain why its conflict has become entrenched.
ICG urged mediators and external powers to push for Juba and the leader of the National Salvation Front (NAS), Thomas Cirillo to fulfil the terms of their ceasefire deal, including incorporating NAS’s representatives in the existing ceasefire-monitoring body.
“They should also press [Salva] Kiir to bolster and Cirillo to join the constitution-making process that the deal between Kiir and [Riek] Machar provides for. This way, the holdout rebel leader will have an avenue to press home his demands at the table, instead of on the battlefield,” it stressed.
Edmund Yakani, a South Sudanese activist, said the ICG report presents facts that should be highly considered by the government.
“The report further demonstrates that the country is facing a situation of falling into regional wars which is dangerous for the sake of having the South Sudan citizens want,” he said.
