by Julius Gale
JUBA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- There is little meaningful progress in implementation of the South Sudan peace deal which was signed by warring factions, peace monitors said on Thursday.
Festus Mogae, Chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), which is tasked with overseeing the implementation of the August 2015 peace deal said the body is shocked by the rapid deterioration of the political, security, humanitarian and economic situation in the East African nation in the past two years.
Speaking at the opening of a stakeholder meeting in the capital, Juba, Mogae said the parties to the pact have been reluctant to implement the peace agreement, and they have made little progress in ending the civil war and restore peace in the world's youngest nation.
"Since July 2016, we, as JMEC, have remained profoundly shocked by the rampant hostilities across the country and the rapid deterioration of the political, security, humanitarian and economic situation in South Sudan. As a result, we are now rightly absorbed in a process to restore and revitalize the prominence of the Peace Agreement," Mogae said.
"By now the Peace Agreement should have achieved considerable progress towards improved security and governance in this country. From day one, however, we have had to persuade the Parties to implement each and every task in accordance with the Peace Agreement," he added.
The JMEC head condemned the ongoing violence and widespread obstruction of humanitarian aid, calling for immediate end to the hostilities.
"This cycle of violence, displacement and deprivation of humanitarian support has been repeated around the country over the past year and has led to untold misery among those who seek only to live peacefully and provide for their families," Mogae said.
South Sudan has been embroiled in more than three years of conflict that has taken a devastating toll on the people of South Sudan.
A peace pact signed in Addis Ababa in 2015 under intense international pressure was shattered again following renewed violence between rival government and opposition troops in the capital Juba in July 2016.
The conflict has since spread to other regions which enjoyed relative peace, causing mass displacement of least 4 million people from their homes, ethnic polarization and tribal violence that has killed tens of thousands of people.
In a bid to revive the stalled peace deal and explore new opportunities for stability in South Sudan, East African leaders under their regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have called for a high level forum scheduled for next month.
Mogae said the success of the revitalization forum entirely depends on the desire of the South Sudanese warring parties and other aggrieved groups to end the conflict.
"It will be for the Parties and estranged groups to determine and commit to the outcomes of this Forum. After all, in the end, the responsibility for the implementation of the Peace Agreement lies squarely with these same Parties," Mogae added.
