Peace partners have regurgitated concerns that key tasks within the Revitalised Agreement of the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) remain pending, 12 months to the end of the transitional period.
Addressing a plenary meeting of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) on Thursday in Juba, Interim Chairperson Maj. Gen. Charles Tai Gituai said: “There is now just 12 months left of the Transitional Period, and elections are due to take place 60 days before it ends, and yet key unimplemented tasks are outstanding.”
Gen. Gituai enumerated the following as pending tasks that need to be implemented as soon as possible as the country heads towards the election period.
“Several important pieces of legislation are not ratified and state governments are not fully functioning; the forces are not unified; the Special Reconstruction Fund is not established, and millions of South Sudanese remain in refugee camps outside the country or in IDP camps; public financial management reforms remain largely undone; the transitional justice mechanisms are not established; and beyond the drafting of its legislation, the constitution-making process is not progressing as expected,” he said.
Gen. Gituai recommended that the national assembly expedite the enactment of the pending security, political parties, and constitution-making bills while urging the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity to avail funds for the completion of the Transitional Security Arrangements, including redeployment of unified forces, as well as for DDR programs.
R-JMEC Interim Chairperson also urged the government to work with international partners to establish the board of the Special Reconstruction Fund, considering the humanitarian and reconstruction challenges facing the country, including the continued need for aid for flood-affected communities.
“The living conditions of flood-affected people in displacement sites remain dire and are likely to further deteriorate with the onset of seasonal rains. There are many hundreds of thousands of flood-affected people requiring humanitarian assistance,” Gen Gituai noted.