JMEC urges South Sudan peace partners to accelerate implementation of security arrangements

January 23, 2019 (JUBA) - The unification of armed forces will be “a decisive milestone” for the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement said the acting head of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) who called to speed up the process.

During the past four months, the signatories of the revitalized peace pact made little progress on the implementation of the security arrangements. The discussions were mainly focusing on troops cantonment, their sustainment and the subsequent reintegration.

Since the signing of the peace agreement, experts and military observers warned many points related to these three aspects were flawed and require more discussion during the implementation phase.

Also, the lack of funding becomes an additional challenge because the unification process is costly and require a lot of money.

However, as the parties are at the half-way stage of the 8-month-long pre-transitional period, JMEC Interim Chairperson Augostino Njoroge recalled that the lack funding combined with the lack of time may increase the challenges facing the implementation process during the upcoming period.

"It is very important that all the armed forces of South Sudan are unified. With the rapid approach of the Transitional period, their unification will be a decisive milestone for this agreement, which is why no effort should be spared in achieving this, " Njoroge said in his speech to the opening session of the 3rdPlenary meeting of the reconstituted JMEC in Juba on Wednesday.

"I expect that the work of the security institutions and mechanisms will quickly gather momentum and that practical steps shall be taken to expedite the disengagement, cantonment and unification of forces," he added.

Regarding the fundraising to the implementation process, the Kenyan diplomat said the National Pre-transitional Committee (NPTC) and the incumbent government have to "take the lead in mobilizing all requisite resources for implementation, establish effective mechanisms for disbursing funds, and support the other mechanisms of the Agreement to carry out their tasks without delay.”

"We continue our outreach to the donor community in the search for funds to support implementation, and we reiterate our heartfelt thanks for those who have already made contributions, be it financially or in–kind," he said.

The South Sudanese government called for international support to the peace implementation process and announced it has dedicated one hundred million South Sudanese pounds and one million dollars.

For its part, the NPTC decided to open an account at the South Sudan Central Bank and another account outside the country for the foreign support to the implementation process.

President Kiir recently was in Egypt asking President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to mobilize regional and international support for the peace implementation process.

(ST)