Igad to discuss the progress of peace agreement effects of Covid-19 South Sudan transition
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- The report also warned: “The threat of the Covid-19 pandemic adds to the humanitarian concerns as large numbers of trainees [soldiers] are confined at the various sites, and centres which are in close proximity to surrounding communities”
Ministers from the regional Inter-governmental Authority on Development will meet tomorrow through video conferencing to discuss the progress of the South Sudan peace agreement and the effects of Covid-19 on its implementation.
The ministers will meet following a situational report released on Monday by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), which warned that the spread of Covid-19 could limit the new transitional government to achieve full transition.
“The meeting is expected to follow up on the progress of the implementation of the peace agreement in the Republic of South Sudan and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to the agreement,” IGAD said in a statement issued yesterday.
The JMEC report warned that Covid-19 would worsen the poor humanitarian situation in the country that had been plagued by war for years.
“This perilous food security and livelihood situation has been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic,” the report said.
The report also warned: “The threat of the Covid-19 pandemic adds to the humanitarian concerns as large numbers of trainees [soldiers] are confined at various sites, and centres which are in close proximity to surrounding communities,”
President Salva Kiir and his Deputy Riek Machar formed a transitional government in February to end the conflict that had displaced millions.
The JMEC which was established by IGAD to monitor the implementation of the peace agreement signed in 2018 says South Sudan has a tight calendar to train and unify forces for a national army and establish a transitional legislative assembly of 550 members.
On February 13, the National Constitutional Amendment Committee requested the Parties to nominate their representatives by February 18 but its only Former Detainees who nominated.
The head of JMEC Lt Gen Auguostino Njoroge warned in the same report that defections within the parties might also hamper the full transition.
A number of disgruntled leaders have defected between groups, after they expressed disappointment with being left out.
Mr Dak Duop Bichiok, the former SPLM-IO (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition) member of the Political Bureau defected last week, accusing Mr Machar of turning the party into “a family affair” after nominating his wife Angelina Teny as Defence Minister.
