NAIROBI, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) — South Sudan’s Transitional Government of National Unity and holdout opposition groups resumed peace talks in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Wednesday, according to the chief mediator.
Lazarus Sumbeiywo, chief mediator for the high-level mediation process for South Sudan, told journalists that the peace talks, dubbed “Tumaini” meaning hope in the Swahili language, are scheduled to conclude in the next two weeks. The resumption follows the return of the government delegation from consultations in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
“I would like to take the opportunity to thank the opposition groups and the stakeholders for their patience and resilience over the last two months. In all this, I see the determination in you honorable delegates to pursue the path of peace for your beloved country of South Sudan,” Sumbeiywo said.
The mediation talks brought together officials from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an East African bloc, as well as envoys from the European Union, United Nations, and co-mediators from Sant’Egidio in Italy.
The decision to resume the talks follows a meeting on Nov. 6 between Kenyan President William Ruto and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir in Juba, where they directed the mediation team to reconvene and resolve any outstanding issues within two weeks before the final agreement is signed.
The Kenya-led Tumaini Initiative peace talks, which began on May 9, faced a setback in July when some parties raised concerns about specific mechanisms proposed in the negotiations. Since May, the parties have worked tirelessly to identify the issues that continue to affect South Sudan despite the two previous agreements: the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan and the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan signed in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
By the end of August, the negotiating parties developed eight protocols to address the identified differences. Sumbeiywo noted that the parties have also considered the ongoing and pending provisions of the revitalized peace agreement, as well as new ones from the Tumaini Initiative, in an effort to improve peace-building through better implementation.
One of the key outcomes of the negotiations is the Trust and Confidence Building protocol, which has created favorable momentum in the talks, he said.
