IGAD extraordinary summit to discuss South Sudan’s dire security situation

File photo: Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegne, and South Sudan President Salva Kiir in Juba. (Radio Tamazuj)

Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has called for an extra-ordinary summit on Monday to discuss the situation in South Sudan.

Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has called for an extra-ordinary summit on Monday to discuss the situation in South Sudan.

IGAD chair, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn called for the meeting after receiving reports of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission on the situation in South Sudan, the latest effort to convene the national dialogue and consultations with the IGAD member states.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the East African regional bloc said the meeting is expected to deliberate on the dire security and humanitarian situation facing South Sudan, adding the security situation is worsening and has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of internally displaced persons and refugees.

"IGAD’s consultations with the African Union and the United Nations also highlight that the region has to lead the way for a concerted effort to bring forward the dialogue to solve the problem in South Sudan," said the regional body.

The statement stressed that the 2015 peace agreement charts the way forward to bring enduring peace, stability and a democratic order in the country.