October 27, 2019 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti) A meeting of Regional and International Special Envoys to South Sudan took place from 25th to 26th October 2019 in Djibouti, the Republic of Djibouti, with a view to take stock of the implementation of pre-transitional tasks of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and better coordinate efforts in mobilizing the required support to the peace process in South Sudan.
The meeting was convened by H.E. Amb. Dr. Ismail Wais, IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan, and was attended by the H.E. Dr. Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, Kenya Special Envoy to South Sudan, H.E. Amb. Jamal El Sheikh, the Sudan Special Envoy to South Sudan, H.E. Betty Bigombe, Technical Advisor to the President of Uganda on the South Sudan Peace Initiative, H.E. Prof. Amb. Joram Biswaro, Head of African Union Mission in South Sudan, H.E. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, UN Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, and H.E. David Shearer, the Special Representative of the the Secretary General and Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan.
Present were also representatives of: EU Special Envoy to South Sudan, Norwegian Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, UK Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan as well as Ambassador of China to Djibouti, Amb. Zhuo Ruisheng, Charge de Affaire of the Embassy of Japan to South Sudan, Mr. Mitsuhiro Toyama, and Charge de Affaire of the Embassy of the United States of America to Djibouti, Mr. Joseph Hamilton.
Participants had robust discussions following presentations on the status of implementation of pre-transitional tasks by: the Interim Chair of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), Amb. Lt. Gen. Augostino S.K. Njoroge, the Chair of the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM), Maj. Gen. Desta Abiche, Deputy Chair of National Pre-Transitional Committee (NPTC), Hon. Gabriel Changson Chang, Chair of the National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC), Mr. Gichira Kibara, representative of the Joint Defence Board (JDB), Maj. Laguya J.S. Lupai, Chair of the Strategic Defence and Security Review Board (SDSR-Board), Madam Angelina Teny, Chair of Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC), Lt. Gen. Wesley Welebe Samson, and the representative of Joint Military Ceasefire Commission (JMCC), Br. Gen. Ayuen Dot Thon.
More focused discussions on critical and consequential pre-transitional tasks such as cantonment, training and redeployment of necessary unified forces, number and boundaries of states, allocation of ministerial portfolios and ratification of the constitutional amendment bill and other relevant laws, also took place.
Informed by the presentations and discussions, the Envoys underscored the need for the Parties to recommit and redouble efforts in the implementation of the R-ARCSS and agree on mutually acceptable and all-inclusive solutions on pending pre-transitional tasks that place the interest of the South Sudanese people at the center. In this regard, the Envoys called upon regional and international partners to provide the much needed political and material support to the peace process in South Sudan.