Sep 25, 2021 — Speaking at the 76th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, the Vice President for Youth and Gender Cluster, Hon. Rebecca Nyandeng Garang, carefully navigated through a well-thought but one of the most challenging presentations to give before the world leaders.
Due to prevailing conflicts, rampant corruption, economic failure and high dependency on loans and humanitarian aid to feed the citizens of the third largest oil producer on the continent, South Sudan leaders are often weighed down by guilt, shame and fear to present at a global podium such as the UN General Assembly, which is one of the reasons president Salva Kiir often delegates his subordinates.
Speaking at the UNGA, the Vice President for Youth and Gender Cluster, Hon. Rebecca Nyandeng, began her statement by admitting the past mistakes and acknowledging that she was not there to deny or defend leadership failure but rather to seek constructive dialogue and ways forwards.
“I am not here to deny our past mistakes as national leaders. Nor do I intend to be defensive in response to our friends and the world’s disappointment in us. Instead, I am here to participate in a constructive dialogue with our international partners. Permit me, therefore, to highlight a few points.” Hon. Rebecca Nyandeng said.
In her address, Hon. Nyandeng gently brushed through many aspects in a fairly balanced speech without dragging a lot of attention to herself or to president Salva Kiir leadership.
On the implementation of the peace agreement, Hon. Nyandeng began by illustrating the little achievements that have been made so far and later stumbled upon the security arrangement that has been pushed aside by Salva Kiir leadership.
“Let’s look at the implementation of the various chapters of the Agreement. First, we have formed Executive and Legislative organs at the national and state levels in line with the power-sharing formulas in Chapter One of the Agreement.” Hon. Rebeca Nyandeng said.
“More importantly, we have made significant progress in implementing public financial management reforms in chapter four. These measures have met the expectations of international financial institutions and other external partners. In addition, the constitution-making process has recently taken a significant step forward with convening a workshop that charted a roadmap toward the drafting and adoption of the permanent constitution.” She continued.
Despite the progress made on Chapter one and four of the peace agreement, she acknowledged that chapter two and five have not been implemented; however, she denied the widely reported “lack of political will” as the reason.
“The implementation of Chapter Five on transitional justice, accountability, reconciliation, and healing is moving forward at a relatively slow pace. This is not for lack of political will, but rather for objective reasons that we are addressing with our regional and international partners.” She continued.
Balancing what has been achieved and what has not been achieved, Nyandeng concludes that the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement is currently sitting at a half mark or 50%.
“We can, therefore, say that the glass is half full in the implementation of most chapters of the Revitalized Peace Agreement. Where the glass remains, half-empty is in Chapter Two on a permanent ceasefire and transitional security arrangements. There is an urgent need to form a unified professional army under one command and control.” She said.
Without diving into much details, Rebecca acknowledged that security sector reforms is always a marathon and therefore the South Sudanese leaders should be understood.
“The security sector reform is the most challenging part of the Agreement as it contains elements at the center of the violent conflicts in the country.”
She called on the South Sudanese leaders to continue to dialogue to build mutual understanding and confidence needed to address and resolve the remaining challenges.
“The parties to the Agreement and other stakeholders should continue dialogue to build the mutual understanding and confidence needed to address and resolve longstanding differences. Building sustainable peace requires inclusivity, collective investment, determination, diligence, and patience.” Rebecca continued.
