UN calls for full implementation of peace in South Sudan

UNSC at a past session. Photo: UN

New York, November 6, 2019 (SSNA) — The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has called on South Sudan’s parties to fully implement the September 2018 revitalized peace agreement, saying that the only for the young nation to have peace is to implement all provisions stipulated in the pact.

The 15-member Council was briefed today by the heads of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and Undersecretary-General for peace operations. The Council recommends that full execution of peace is the only way for lasting peace.

“…full implementation of all provisions of the peace agreement remains the only path that will set the country toward the goal of peace, stability, and development,” UNSC says.

During the briefing, members of the Council were told that the UN the delegation that visited South Sudan on October 20, 2019 “did not observe substantive progress of key elements” of the deal. The Council calls parties to peace to reaffirm their commitment to peace and refrain from rhetoric or act that could incite violence.

The UNSC says it wants all key provisions of the pact including pre-transitional the task, security arrangements, and the issue of the number of states and boundaries. The world body also calls on the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to encourage South Sudan’s leaders to work toward an inclusive government. The Council further stressed the importance of the status of the house arrest of the SPLM/A-IO leader Dr. Riek Machar and asks IGAD to consider it.

The South Sudan News Agency (SSNA) was told by a senior SPLM-IO official in October that the status of the armed opposition leader was supposed to be resolved in September but Uganda President Yoweri Museveni, who is an ally of President Salva Kiir was advocating against it. The official accused the Ugandan leader of working for the interest of Kiir, not the people of South Sudan. Machar currently lives in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.