“It is also a big step towards the full implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan of 2018 (R-ARCSS), and indeed further evidence of the commitment of the Parties to the Revitalised Peace Agreement to bestow upon this country a durable and people-owned constitution at the end of the Transitional Period,” said RJMEC Interim Chairperson Maj Gen Charles Tai Gituai.

He was speaking at the opening session of the workshop on 25 May 2021, which was attended by H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Republic of South Sudan, and H.E. Abdallah Hamdok, Prime Minister of the Republic of Sudan.

Under the Revitalised Peace Agreement, the Interim Chairperson said, the new Permanent Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan is “expected inter-alia to guide the conduct of elections at the end of the Transitional Period, guarantee good governance, constitutionalism, rule of law, human rights, and gender equality.”

The workshop, facilitated by the Germany-based Max Planck Foundation, brought together delegates nominated by the Parties to the Revitalised Peace Agreement and Stakeholders to deliberate and agree on the details of the permanent constitution-making process. 

“The whole country is looking to your technical expertise to design a viable path for the making of a constitution that will help restore permanent and sustainable peace, security and stability in the country,” the Chairperson of RJMEC told the workshop participants.

The launch of the workshop marks the beginning of the constitution-making process, which will be followed by, among other steps, the enactment of the legislation to govern the process, the reconstitution of the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC), the appointment of a Sub-Committee for the convening of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC), civic education, and the implementation of all agreed workshop outcomes.

“This process will require a lot of political, technical, financial and logistical support. I would therefore like to appeal to the RTGoNU, regional guarantors, international partners and friends of South Sudan to fully support this process,” Maj Gen Gituai said.