ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Friday urged the South Sudanese government to prioritize a negotiated peace agreement and inclusive dialogue before holding elections in July 2018.
Speaking at the African Union (AU) Headquarter in Addis Ababa, Haile Menkerios, the UN secretary general's special envoy to the AU, said elections should take place in a secure environment in which people are free to express their political views.
"Elections can only take place in a stable, safe security environment in which people aren't subject to violence and hunger and where they are able to express their political views free from intimidation," said Menkerios.
The UN envoy blamed all warring sides for not implementing the August 2015 Addis Ababa peace agreement, which he said had led to massive human rights violations on both sides.
Africa's newest nation South Sudan has been in a state of civil war since December 2013 after clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his ex-Deputy Riek Machar quickly transformed into an all-out civil war.
Several rounds of peace negotiations mediated by the AU, the regional body Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the UN have so far failed to stop the bloodshed.
It's estimated tens of thousands of people have been killed in the civil war and four million displaced internally and to foreign countries.
Smail Chergui, chair of the African Union's Peace and Security, said the AU is trying its best to resolve the South Sudan civil war as part of the continental body's initiative to "silence the guns in Africa by 2020."
