South Sudan ready to mediate peace in Sudan: VP

September 23, 2022 (NEW YORK) – South Sudan’s Vice President, Hussein Abdelbagi Akol has pledged his country’s readiness to mediate an end to the conflict in Sudan.

Akol, also the Chair of the Service Cluster, told the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Thursday that South Sudan is surrounded by conflict-affected countries.

This, he told the assembly, persuaded South Sudan to pursue peace as a strategy to end its internal political contradictions and mediate in other regional countries.

“As part of its obligation to promote peace and stability in the region and beyond, South Sudan successfully mediated the armed conflict in Sudan which resulted in the signing of the Juba Peace Agreement in 2020 in Juba. South Sudan stands ready to mediate the current conflict between the army and the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) in Sudan so that Sudan can finally enjoy lasting peace”, said Akol.

He cited diplomatic efforts to mediate and end tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia after disagreement over the building of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

“Recently, South Sudan also offered to mediate tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia over their disagreement on the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). We further demonstrated a willingness to mediate the internal conflict in Ethiopia between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Forces (TPLF). The Republic of South furthermore availed itself ready to mediate border issue between the Republic of Sudan and The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia”, said Akol.

South Sudan views itself as having an important role to play in ending the conflict in Sudan, embarking on concerted efforts to strengthen its security forces to maintain peace and stability in the region. These efforts were frustrated by the October 2021 coup in Sudan which saw the military component of the transitional government assert itself over a civilian-led regime.

(ST)