July 12th 2019 (Nyamileledis) – There is a progress being made by South Sudan’s warring parties in the implementation of the revitalized peace deal and especially on the cantonment of forces, the chairman of the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMVM), Maj. Gen. Desta Abiche said in a opening statement to the peace monitoring body on Thursday.
Abiche who praised the signatories to the peace deal highlighted major achievements in the implementation of the agreement raising hopes that that the parties may even take more concrete steps to implement outstanding critical tasks provided for in the agreement.
“Much has happened since our last Board meeting, and I am pleased to report that the Parties continue to take clear steps forward in implementing the tasks of Chapter II of the Peace Agreement,” General Abiche said.
The head of the peace monitoring body revealed that the permanent ceasefire declared by President Kiir and opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar in June last year is holding across the country without any single report of violation.
“The ceasefire continues to hold throughout most of the country with no reported incidents of violence between the Parties. CTSAMVM continues to monitor the overall security situation and reports of tension in order to encourage early mediation to prevent escalation,” he said.
“CTSAMVM has observed that there is progress on cantonment, although it is slow. CTSAMVM continues to monitor and verify those cantonment and barrack sites identified by the JDB,” he said.
“We are now seeing much improvement in our coordination and cooperation with the JMCC who are leading in conducting assessments of the cantonment sites and developing cantonment policy. CTSAMVM and the JMCC have conducted a number of joint missions and will continue to do so throughout this critical period,” he added.
However, the peace monitoring body further admitted that there been “numerous logistical challenges in requests to support the provision of food, water, medicine and shelter from those troops who are already cantoned and those who are supposed to be cantoned.”
