End “senseless” killings, monitors tell S. Sudan warring parties

July 19, 2018 (JUBA) – The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation (JMEC) on Thursday called on the South Sudanese warring parties to embrace the spirit of compromise at the revitalization forum and end the “senseless killings” that continue in the nation unabated.

“The achievement of peace in South Sudan is a collective process. You must all make the decision that the conflict, and especially the senseless killings need to stop and say enough is enough,” said JMEC’s deputy chair, Lt. Gen. Augostino Njoroge.

While speaking during the closing ceremony of a four-day workshop in the South Sudan capital, Juba, Ambassador Njoroge said even though steps that have been taken towards the peace agreement revitalization process is “encouraging”, the parties should endeavor to resolve outstanding issues.

The workshop on the theme, “Peace in Time: Creating awareness for the Youth on the South Sudan Peace Process” attracted 200 students from the Youth Peacemaker Network at the Juba-based Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI).

“It is critical for all parties to fully abide by the agreements they have signed to date, including the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities, Protection of Civilians and Humanitarian Access of December 2017, and particularly refrain from all acts of violence,” said Njoroge.

“So much ground has been covered since the Revitalization process begun. This is indeed encouraging. JMEC continues to urge the Parties in the conflict to embrace the spirit of compromise and to resolve all the outstanding issues,” he added.

The workshop provided training on the 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, the 2017 Cessation of Hostilities (ACoH) and the High-Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF).

Ambassador Njoroge further said youth of South Sudan, “should be the social capital, the vanguard and a force for good.”

“The youth in this country must rally around a common goal, set better standards, educate the population on their rights and responsibilities and continue to agitate for a peaceful resolution of the conflict that has continued for far too long,” said Njoroge.

“Remember however that, all wars must end in peace. Let all of you as South Sudanese find in your hearts a place to forgive each other, accommodate one another and rekindle the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood and take another historic step to rebuild your motherland. As the youth, the future belongs to you more than any other social group,” he further stressed.

(ST)