Sudan/South Sudan: Escalating Violence & Stalled Peace Process | United Nations

The Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee today (18 Aug) told the Security Council that there has been “a continued erosion of the gains previously made in the peace process” in South Sudan, including “an escalation of political and subnational violence and stagnation in the implementation of the Peace Agreement.” Pobee said the international community has “repeatedly called for a cessation of hostilities, de-escalation and return to dialogue. However, she added, they “have not yielded any concrete response” and instead, “a pattern of violations and unilateral actions persists, which continues to undermine the ability of the Government of national unity to implement the Agreement.” If this trend continues, she said, “it will likely lead to a shift in conflict dynamics, from subnational and community-based violence to a more complex landscape shaped by ethnic divisions involving signatory parties and other actors, including those from neighbouring countries.” Pobee called on the parties “to unblock the current political deadlock by fully recommitting to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, releasing the political detainees, engaging in direct high-level dialogue, and recommit implementing an inclusive peace process, particularly on key issues such as transitional security arrangements, transitional justice, constitution-making, and elections.” The Interim Chairperson of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) George Aggrey Owinow, briefing remotely from Juba, said, “the current situation and trajectory of the country, if not urgently addressed, risks to reverse all that has been gained and may lead to a collapse” of the peace agreement, “which could return the country back to an armed conflict.” The RJMEC and its partners, Aggrey Owinow said, “have repeatedly called for constructive dialog, de-escalation of tensions, addressed the issues of detainees and returned to full and implementation” of the agreement. For his part, South Sudan’s Ambassador Sabino Edward Nyawella Amaikweytold the Council that “South Sudan remains committed to ensuring that any obstacles - real or perceived - to and UNMISS operations are addressed in good faith and without delay.” Nyawella Amaikweytold confirmed that “any such situations could either be attributed to our efforts to ensuring safety of the mission's assets and or personnel, or they are merely due to lack of information sharing, or the capacity of the individuals involved. It is never a policy of the government of the Republic of South Sudan to hinder UNMISS mandate.” The Agreement on the Roadmap to a Peaceful and Democratic End of the Transitional Period of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) was concluded and signed on 12 September 2018 and was scheduled to end after a period of 44 months.


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