NAIROBI, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The newly appointed Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Special Envoy to South Sudan, Ismail Wais has begun preliminary consultative meetings with relevant stakeholders in Juba to shore up peace process, the bloc said on Saturday.
A statement from IGAD said during the meetings this week, Wais deliberated on a mapping exercise towards the realization of the High Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) for the implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS).
"The HLRF is also expected to develop a revised and realistic timeline and implementation schedule towards a democratic election at the end of the transition period," said the bloc.
During the two-day mission, the special envoy met with key officials from the Transitional Government of National Unity, the UN Mission in South Sudan and the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission.
He also held consultations with officials of the UN and the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism.
A regional summit held in Ethiopia in June authorized the convening of the HLRF. The forum aims to bring together parties to the ARCSS and other stakeholders including estranged groups to discuss concrete measures of restoring the permanent ceasefire.
The Summit mandated the IGAD Council of Ministers to urgently facilitate the convening of the Forum. Subsequently, the IGAD Council held two extra-ordinary sessions on July 2 and 24 in Addis Ababa and Juba respectively.
During their deliberations, the ministers developed an indicative roadmap that gave precedence to the mapping of the parties to the ARCSS amongst other prioritized events and activities leading to the eventual convening of the Forum next month.
