The Troika (United States, United Kingdom, and Norway) welcomes the Transitional Government’s renewed commitments to unifying the command structures of the military following the Meeting of the Presidency on 10 August.
The Troika also welcomes the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s (IGAD) continued efforts to support peace in South Sudan and this week’s Extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting. We commend and echo the Council of Ministers’ renewed call for all parties to abide by the peace agreement, and for the signatories to show a greater sense of unity for the sake of all South Sudanese within the framework of the revitalized peace agreement and the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity. The Troika supports the efforts of the IGAD chair in developing a roadmap to resolve current disagreements and overcome obstacles in the implementation of Chapter 2.
While we recognize there has been some recent progress implementing elements of the revitalized peace agreement, recent events in Juba and elsewhere in the country show that slow, partial, and sometimes unconvincing implementation, has generated discontent among several constituencies and civil society. Where there are legitimate grievances around direction and pace of implementation, it is important for those voices to be heard and for freedom of expression to be protected. To ensure South Sudan moves away from the legacy of conflict, the fostering of divisions and splits of parties must also stop.
