-   Your Excellency, Hirut Zemene, State Minister, Foreign Affairs, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

-    Your Excellencies, IGAD Member State Representatives 

-    Your Excellency, IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan

-     Heads of Delegation of the Parties to the Revitalized Peace Agreement

-    Hon. Ministers

-    Your Excellencies

-    Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.   I have the honour to address all of you today.

2.   As you know, we are left with only 10 days to the end of the Pre-Transitional Period as provided for in the Revitalized Peace Agreement.

3.   I thank His Excellency Dr. Ismail Wais for convening this meeting of the Parties on the status of implementation of the Peace Agreement and the way forward. We at RJMEC have conducted our evaluation and made the findings public. 

4.   Our assessment is that in spite of the progress made in the establishment of key Agreement institutions and mechanisms, overall the implementation of the Pre-transitional tasks has fallen short of expectations. Critical tasks remain pending.

5.  Accordingly, I recommended to the leadership of the Parties to take an honest review of our assessment and to agree on the best course of action going forward. I also recommended to the IGAD leadership to be seized of this matter.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

6.  Permit me to highlight the tasks of the Pre-Transitional Period which have been implemented, those which are ongoing and the most critical tasks pending.  

7.   In RJMEC’s assessment, 59 key tasks were required to be implemented prior to the commencement of the Transitional Period. To-date, 27 out of the 59 have been completed, 17 are ongoing and 15 are pending. Unfortunately, the pending tasks are the most critical and consequential to the implementation of the Agreement.

8.  For the purpose of this meeting, allow me to focus more on the ongoing and pending tasks of the Pre-Transitional Period.

9.  Under Chapter I, implementation of the following key activities is either ongoing or incomplete:

a.  determination of the number and boundaries of states and the composition and restructuring of the Council of States by the Independent Boundaries Commission;

b.  ratification of the Constitutional Amendment Bill (2019) by the TNLA and its promulgation into the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan;

c.   review and amendment of relevant security and governance related laws. The NCAC completed the reviews and handed over the Amendment Bills to the line Ministry to table before the Cabinet and forward to the TNLA; and

d.  the Parties to the Agreement are yet to agree on the allocation of ministerial portfolios. 

10.      Under Chapter II, the Permanent Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements, tasks yet to be conclusively implemented are as follows:

a.  refraining from acts of sexual and gender-based violence by the Parties;

b.  cantonment, disarmament, screening, demobilization, selection, unification and training of forces; 

c.   demilitarization of civilian centers; 

d.  reconstitution of sub-structures of the JMCC, namely; the Area Joint Military Ceasefire Committees and the Joint Military Ceasefire Teams;

e.  reconstitution of the DDR Commission; and

f.    the strategic defence and security review (SDSR) process. 

11.  Similarly, under Chapter III on humanitarian affairs and reconstruction, the mechanism for the registration and documentation of refugees and IDPs is still in the process of development.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

12.     In spite of the moderate progress made in the implementation of the Pre-Transitional tasks, several challenges have continued to undermine the functionality of Agreement institutions and mechanisms. Namely, delayed establishment of some institutions and mechanisms, financial constraints, capacity gaps and lack of coordination. 

13.    My greatest concern is the delayed operationalization of the cantonment sites, despite my repeated appeal to the Parties to expedite this process. To my knowledge, as I speak, there is not a single cantonment site that is operational. 

14.    Your deliberations today and tomorrow must arrive at concrete steps to address the identified challenges.

15.       The outcomes of this meeting will be critical in informing my recommendation to the IGAD leadership, galvanizing public trust in the peace process and will demonstrate your commitment to implement the Peace Agreement. I appeal to all of you to maintain the spirit of trust and confidence that you have nurtured together over the past months. 

16.      I wish you fruitful deliberations.

I thank you.