12-05-2018, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia): Building on its prior consultations and efforts to narrow the differences between the parties on the key outstanding Governance and Security issues, the IGAD Council of Ministers (CoM), assisted by the IGAD Special Envoy, has invited to Addis Ababa the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), and the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army-In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) for Intensive Interlinked Consultations (IIC) in Addis Ababa on May 11, 12 and 13, 2018.
These ongoing consultations are also meant to discuss the outstanding issues identified at the end of the last session of the High Level Revitalisation Forum for South Sudan.
The IIC is an approach meant for a greater degree of candour and vigour than is normally possible in more formal settings, such as plenary. The IIC is not envisaged as an inter-party negotiation session; rather, it is an opportunity to explore potential compromise areas, and to deepen the Facilitation’s understanding of the positions and interests of each party
The Facilitation is engaging each party on its positions in relation to the outstanding issues in Security and Governance, while encouraging each party to consider the positions advanced by the other parties within the framework of the latest shuttle diplomacy.
In line with the conception of the IIC as a preparatory platform for the upcoming High Level Revitilisation Forum, the expected outcomes are:
(a) participating parties would (have had the opportunity to) review their positions to enhance the possibility of reaching agreement with the other parties and stakeholders to the upcoming HLRF on the outstanding issues;
(b) as appropriate, the participating parties would have engaged each other directly to explore potential areas of consensus;
(c) the Facilitation would have deepened its understanding of the parties’ interests and positions on the outstanding issues ahead of the HLRF; and
(d) the Facilitation would inform its judgement on the most effective processes.
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