SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
South Sudan activists ramp up pressure for unity government
Juba, Aug 12 (AFP) Aug 12, 2019
South Sudan activists on Monday began a campaign to pressure the country's warring parties to meet a fast-approaching deadline to form a unity government as part of their 2018 peace agreement.

The Civil Society Forum, a coalition of more than 100 organisations, on Monday marked the beginning of a 90-day countdown to the November deadline for the ruling party and opposition to form a government.

"We have not got much time left. There are a lot of tasks that need to be accomplished and business should not remain as usual," Geoffrey Lou Duke, a member of the coalition, told AFP.

South Sudan descended into war in 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy and fellow former rebel leader Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

The parties signed a peace deal in September for Kiir to form a government with Machar, but the sides already missed the first deadline, which was in May.

Activists say scant progress has been made since then, including on vital security measures to stabilise a country reeling from nearly six years of conflict.

The fighting has been marked by ethnic violence and brutal atrocities, and left about 380,000 dead while some four million have fled their homes.

Before any unity government is formed, the parties are supposed to canton their fighters and redeploy them as part of the national army, police and other security forces.

Foreign donors say it is up to Kiir's administration to fund the security reforms. Parties to the peace deal say its implementation will cost $285 million but that only around $10 million has been provided.

Machar's party says he will not return to Juba until the security reforms are complete.

"We have to see a sense of urgency and we do not want to see another situation where we give all sorts of excuses for having failed to form the transitional government," Jame David Kolok, another member of the Civil Society Forum, told AFP Monday.

"The campaign is to make sure every second from now onwards counts."


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Young magmas on the came from much shallower depths
JunoCam revived by onboard heat treatment just in time for Io flyby
CTAO telescope uncovers fresh evidence for layered jet structures in historic gamma ray burst

24/7 Energy News Coverage
States legally obligated to tackle climate change: ICJ
Viasat unveils IoT Nano service for global low-power connectivity
Xi says China, EU must deepen trust but bloc chief urges 'real solutions'

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Trump's AI plan prioritizes deregulation to boost US dominance
Thailand, Cambodia clash with jets and rockets in deadly border row
US approves $322 mn in arms sales to Ukraine; German government moves to speed up military procurement

24/7 News Coverage
World's top court paves way for climate reparations
Pacific climate pioneer still fears for island nation's future
China hails 'positive' ICJ ruling on climate reparations



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.