South Sudan will, starting at the end of February, hold its first regional conference on the country’s national dialogue, an official disclosed.
Angelo Beda, co-chair of the national dialogue committee, told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday that all states in the Greater Behr el Ghazal region would be involved in the first regional conference.
The regional conference will begin with the Greater Bahr el Ghazal region in Wau on 25 February, followed by Upper Nile region in Malakal town and it will conclude with Equatoria region in Juba, said Beda.
He further said the start of the conference delayed as they had to engage the different opposition groups so they could join the process.
The elderly politician pointed out that opposition groups, including the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) led by Riek Machar, have already selected their members taking part in all the conference process.
“We have received the SPLM-IO delegation under Riek Machar and met with them. We are about to meet with the group of South Sudan’s Opposition Alliance (SSOA). This was what delayed us, but I am sure within the next seven days, we will begin our work,” said Beda.
The committee, he said, will ensure it is an inclusive dialogue process.
“Each conference will go for nine days and we shall begin with 300 participants in Wau followed by the rest of the two regions. The population in each region is different and that is why we cannot determine participants for each conference now,” he stressed.
Over 10 categories of community groups, including women, youth, business communities, civil society activists, farmers and cattle keepers will attend the regional conference, Beda explained.
He urged all communities across the country to cooperate with the national dialogue committee so that it achieves its objectives.
In December 2016, South Sudan President Salva Kiir launched the national dialogue initiative that seeks to reconcile and unite the East African nation torn apart by more than five years of civil war.