Communication Office

PRESS RELEASE

(For Immediate Publication)

Thursday, 23 September 2021 , Juba, South Sudan

There must be urgency and collective efforts to address impediments, if progress on the R-ARCSS is to be sustained and accelerated

The Revitalised Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) met in Juba on Thursday 23 September, 2021. 

In his address to the meeting, RJMEC Interim Chairperson Maj. Gen. Charles Tai Gituai took stock of the progress made in the implemenation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ACRSS) over the last three years and outlined key challenges hampering its implementation. 

Even though progress has been made in certain areas, the Interim Chairperson said, insufficient political will among the Parties, trust deficit and lack of confidence among the Parties including intra-Party disagreements and in-fighting, continue to undermine progress in the implementation of the Agreement generally.

At this point three years into the implementation of the R-ARCSS and roughly halfway through the Transitional Period, the Interim Chair said that missed timelines, delays and lack of prioritisation of key tasks, and inability of the Parties to sufficiently coordinate, cooperate, collaborate, compromise, and to forge consensus, hampers the implementation of the R-ACRSS. Furthermore, other challenges includes the lack of sufficient funding and resources that are needed.  

On the Transitional Security Arrangement (TSAs), the Chairperson said that non-completion of the unification of forces, including no agreement so far on the command structure and force ratios, absence of any redeployment of the trained component of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF) has contributed to the worsening security situation at the subnational level, compounds public frustration with the Parties, and undermines confidence in the peace process.  

Maj. Gen. Charles Gituai has further urged the reconstituted Transitional Legislative National Assembly (TNLA) to “embark on their legislative and oversight functions, including expediting the enactment of pending bills.”

ENDS