U.S special envoy to visit South Sudan on Sunday
May 8, 2021(WASHINGTON) – The United States Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Ambassador Donald Booth is scheduled to visit South Sudan from May 9-13, 2021.
A statement from the U.S. State Department said Booth will hold meetings with government officials, political stakeholders, and civil society as well as international partners during his visit.
“The Special Envoy’s travel underscores the United States’ commitment to work with IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] and other regional and international partners to support peace and stability in South Sudan,” partly reads the May 8 statement.
According to statement, of particular concern to the US is the slow implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), ongoing violence, and the deteriorating economic and humanitarian conditions.
The envoy’s visit comes days after diplomats from the Troika member countries penned a letter calling for the urgent implementation of the Transitional Security Arrangements which include; agreement on Necessary Unified Force, improvement of conditions in training centers, and the graduation and deployment of the unified force.
The letter from the Troika, of which the US is a member, was addressed to South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, First Vice President Riek Machar and the country’s four Vice Presidents.
Booth was appointed U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan on August 28, 2013. Prior to this appointment, he served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
A member of the Senior Foreign Service, the U.S diplomat previously served as Ambassador to the Republic of Zambia from 2008-2010 and Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia from 2005-2008.
(ST)