Idris Abdelgadir and Deng Alor Kuol yesterday in Addis Ababa signed an agreement on resolving disputes and overseeing implementation of the cooperation deal between the two Sudans.

The document, which now forms an integral part of the Cooperation Agreement signed last September, stipulates four joint mechanisms for “overseeing implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Cooperation Agreement, and for addressing any disputes arising from its implementation.”

Those four mechanisms are a summit of the heads of state, a high-level committee chaired by vice presidents of the two countries, ministerial committees, and technical committees.

Since the presidential summit was a method already employed in the negotiations, the innovations of this document consist primarily in formalizing the roles of the Vice Presidents and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

Sudan, which has two vice presidents, will appoint one to co-chair the High Level Committee – presumably Ali Othman Taha – and South Sudan will task Riek Machar Teny with this responsibility. The frequency of the high-level committee meetings is not stipulated.

A ministerial committee reporting to the High Level Committee shall be co-chaired by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs. This Joint Implementation Committee shall be responsible for “collating information on the implementation of each agreement in the Cooperation Agreement and presenting and discussing its findings with the relevant implementation mechanism.”

Photo: The lead negotiating panel, Idriss Abdelgader (left) and Deng Alor Kuol (right), sign a deal establishing mechanisms for resolving disputes, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 23 April 2013 (African Union High Implementation Panel)