Your Excellency, Dr Ismail Wais, IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan Honorable Ministers,

Your Excellencies,

Distinguised Ladies and Gentlemen,

Your Excellency, Dr Ismail Wais,

1. Let me start by taking this opportunity to thank you for reconstituting JMEC. I join you in welcoming all the members of the reconstituted JMEC to this very first Plenary.

2. I congratulate the people of South Sudan, the government and the opposition parties for choosing the path of peace and for the historic signing of the Revitalized Agreement on 12 September 2018, here in Addis Ababa.

3. May I also congratulate all of you for being nominated as members to this esteemed body. I commend the leadership of IGAD, and the Special Envoy for South Sudan and his Taskforce for their commitment, and the regional and international community for their support which led to the successful conculsion of the revitalization process.

4. I also seize this oppportunity to pay tribute to His Excellency Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana and former Chairperson of JMEC, for his wise decision to recommend the revitalization of the 2015 Peace Agreement. His leadership and support throughout the revitalization process was instrumental in its eventual success.

Honorable Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

5. Allow me to also personally thank the IGAD Council of Ministers, for entrusting me with this noble responsibility as Interim Chairperson of the reconstituted JMEC.

6. Having worked with His Excellency Festus Mogae for the last two years at JMEC as his deputy, I am fully aware of the enormity of this responsibility. Therefore, I call upon your full support and cooperation, so that the reconstituted JMEC can deliver on its mandate.

7. Last Friday, I had the honour of addressing the 66th Extra-Ordinary Session of the IGAD Council of Ministers, from which I can assure you that there is a high level of expectation placed in reconstituted JMEC by the IGAD member states. The Council of Ministers welcomed the progress in implementation made so far by the South Sudanese parties and stakeholders, and expect this momentum to be maintained. The Council also urged the Parties to observe the 35% quota of women in all Agreement institutions.

8. This august body is now reconstituted, made more inclusive, and bestowed with significant power and responsibility to monitor the Parties’ and stakeholders’ adherence to the implementation of the revitalized Peace Agreement. I can assert that we have the attention of the region as well as the people of South Sudan, and we must do our utmost to deliver.

9. To facilitate the smooth and effective implementation of the Peace Agreement, I appeal to all of you to use both the reconstituted JMEC Plenary meetings and the Office of the Chairperson to resolve any issues that might arise. I look forward to holding our future Plenaries in Juba.

Honorable Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

10. It is slightly over 60 days since the R-ARCSS came into effect and the Secretariat has been keenly monitoring the status of implementation, which we have summarized in three reports issued so far. There is no doubt that some commendable progress has been made in the implementation of agreed tasks, within the timeline prescribed in the Agreement.

11. Amongst the key tasks completed so far are:

a. Ratification of the Revitalized Agreement by the Parties;

b.Nominations by the Parties and stakeholders of their representatives to various institutions and mechanisms;

c. Establishment and reconstitution of the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM), the National Pre-Transitional Committee (NPTC), and the National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC);

12. All the above reconstituted institutions and mechanisms have already commenced their work and are making good progress delivering on their mandates.

13. However, there are some key pending tasks as of today.

These include:

a. Establishment of new institutions such as the Independent Boundaries Commission (IBC), the Technical Boundaries Committee (TBC), the Joint Defense Board (JDB), and the Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC), which are critical for implementation of some Pre-Transitional activities.

b. Reconstitution of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) Board, the Joint Military Ceasefire Commission (JMCC), and the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (DDRC).

14. I would like to make clear that the formation of the IBC and TBC, two critical institutions for the Pre-Transitional period, are long overdue. However, I welcome the Council of Ministers’ decision last Friday to urgently take steps to expedite their establishment.

15. Despite the overall decline in ceasefire violations and humanitarian access problems, I am concerned both by the reported fighting that took place in the areas of Wau and Yei River State, and the denial of humanitarian access, such as in the area of Rubkuay, Unity State, last month.

16. I understand that some of those involved in the fighting were non- signatories to the Peace Agreement. In this regard, I welcome the decision of the IGAD Council of Ministers taken at the 66th Extra-ordinary Session to invite the non-signatories to join in its implementation. The ceasefire and humanitarian access must be complete throughout the country and without exception for the people of South Sudan to live in safety and dignity.

17. However, I am encouraged by the Parties’ joint efforts to build confidence through visits to hot spots, and to de-escalate the fighting. CTSAMVM will provide a detailed briefing shortly.

Honorable Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

18. I am greatly encouraged by the demonstrable political will of the Parties to implement the Peace Agreement in letter and spirit.

19. Even as we gather here today, many of the opposition leaders and representatives have returned to Juba and are actively participating in the NPTC and NCAC, in the spirit of the Peace Agreement. The Chairpersons of CTSAMVM and the NCAC will shortly give their progress reports on the implementation of their respective tasks.

20. As we witnessed during the Peace Celebrations in Juba, as well as elsewhere in the country, the people of South Sudan have embraced the revitalized Peace Agreement. The Parties must now fulfil the people’s aspiration for peace and make it a reality.

21. I commend His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Republic of South Sudan, his brother Dr Riek Machar Teny and the leadership of the different parties for this renewed spirit of collaboration. I further encourage South Sudanese leaders to explore more joint initiatives for confidence building including outside Juba, in the States and in neighbouring countries where significant numbers of South Sudanese citizens temporarily reside.

Honorable Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

22. Let me take this opportunity to address our partners, the regional and international community represented here. You have stood side by side with the people of South Sudan from the beginning and therefore, we welcome your continued support at this critical hour of need and hope.

23. This revitalized agreement has the necessary checks and balances to ensure its full implementation. Unlike the 2015 Peace Agreement, this Agreement has a number of activities to be conducted within eight months to demonstrate the commitment of the Parties.

24. While the government in Juba is expected to lead the way, the prescribed tasks can only be sufficiently accomplished with your backing.

25. I commend the South Sudanese government for its initial contribution to the National Pre-Transitional Committee Fund (NPTF) of SSP 100 million and USD 1 million, and I urge the government to continue its funding of the key Pre-Transitional activities as the onus to do so lies with the government.

26. I also appeal to our international partners: the Troika, the EU, China, the UN, and all the members of the International Partners Forum to extend the requisite support to the government and to all the Pre-Transitional institutions and mechanisms.

Honorable Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

27. In conclusion, I look forward to working very closely with all of you, in a collaborative and collegial manner, and I pledge our total commitment to support the Parties to implement this agreement in letter and spirit.

28. I expect this inaugural Plenary to review and endorse our Rules of Procedure and Resolutions template as well as receive progress reports from the NCAC and the CTSAMVM.

May God bless us all. Thank you.