By Gladys Fred Kole
United Nations’ Special Representative of the Secretary-General has urged political leaders to commit to implementing the revitalized peace agreement.
Speaking during the celebration of the United Nations Day in Juba, Nicholas Haysom said that political leaders have a role to implement the peace agreement.
“It is important for South Sudanese to take the lead in shaping their own collective destiny by demonstrating political roles and common purpose towards the prosperous future for all,” he said.
With less than 14 months left to the end of the roadmap, parties to the agreement have made some strides in implementing the agreement, but a significant portion of the deal remains unimplemented, and little progress has been made.
These include the Political Parties Council, the deployment of Phase I, and the unification of Phase II of the security forces among other provisions.
Mary Nawai Martin, the minister of parliamentary affairs reiterated President Salva Kiir’s call for the lifting of arms embargo which she said is delaying the implementation of the peace agreement.
While addressing the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York last month, Kiir noted that the arms embargo was an eyesore to the deployment of the already graduated Necessary Unified Forces (NUF).
But prior to the renewal of the arms embargo, the UN Panel of Experts on South Sudan stated that there was no progress made on the establishment and implementation of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) or the proper management of existing arms and ammunition stockpiles.
The benchmarks for lifting the arms embargo include the completion of the Strategic Defense and Security Review process, the formation of a unified command structure for the necessary unified forces (NUF), and the implementation of the Joint Action Plan for the Armed Forces on addressing conflict-related sexual violence.
On May 30, the UN Security Council renewed the arms embargo imposed on the country for a year as it monitored the progress the government would make towards meeting the benchmarks set for lifting the embargo.