South Sudan peace monitors brief AUPSC delegation
April 16, 2018 (JUBA) – The senior leadership of the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM) and the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) secretariat briefed the visiting African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) delegation on the recent activities in relation to their monitoring activities in South Sudan.
The AU delegation are a five-day visit to the war-torn East African country to urge South Sudanese parties to commit to the resolution of the civil war that erupted in mid-December 2013.
The CTSAMM, according to a statement issued on Monday, gave a brief update on the verification of forces throughout the country and also gave a brief overview on five violation reports which have been recently submitted to JMEC and to the regional bloc (IGAD).
“The visiting delegation thanked CTSAMM for their presentation and also commended the work CTSAMM does in ensuring the security situation is accurately monitored,” it further stated.
The delegation of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) is led by Bankole Adeoye, permanent representative of Nigeria and chairperson of the PSC for this month, the AU said in a statement.
The PSC mission followed the visit by the chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, to South Africa, where he met the exiled South Sudanese armed opposition leader, Riek Machar.
The PSC delegation, the AU said, is expected to interact with all South Sudanese stakeholders, African and international actors, to assess the challenges that are still impeding the implementation of the 2015 agreement on the resolution of the South Sudan conflict.
Deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in South Sudan, the PSC delegation will visit the city of Malakal as part of its field mission.
South Sudan has been mired in conflict between the government of President Salva Kiir and rebels led by Machar, the country’s former first vice-president since mid-December 2013. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced almost over 2 million people from their homes, including over a million refugees who have fled into neighbouring nations.
(ST)