Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is urging the international community to support the peace process in South Sudan.
The plea came nearly nine months after the US government withdrew its financial support from the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission and the Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) and the peace monitoring body, RJMEC, last year.
The US had cited Juba’s failure to meet reform milestones.
“Due to the lack of sustained progress on the part of South Sudan’s leaders, and after consultation with Congress, the United States is terminating support for the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission and the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism,” said Ned Price, a department spokesperson, in a press statement on July 15, 2022.
The UNSC now wants more bodies to come in and support the ongoing process. They urged member states to provide logistical and financial support for the RJMEC and the CTSAMVM to enhance their logistical and operational capabilities.
The call came barely two weeks after the two bodies ‘downed tools’ citing the government’s failure to allocate finances.
The Security Council, in a draft resolution to extend the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), emphasized the need for CTSAMVM to assess violations in a timely and transparent manner and urged IGAD to act on the reports and share them with the Security Council.
“Noting that the African Union, IGAD, and the United Nations Security Council demanded that parties that violate the agreement on cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians, and humanitarian access (the ACOH) must be held accountable.”
The United States, however, continues to provide in excess of $1 billion in humanitarian and development aid and in support to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), one of the most expensive peace missions.
According to the Council, supporting the peace monitors could enable them to hold violators accountable when violations are documented.
Up to 40 percent of the funds for RJMEC and CTSAMVM are funded by American contributions.
According to Maram Mahdi, a researcher for the African Peace and Security Governance Programme at the Institute for Security Studies, without this financial support, critical monitoring of ceasefire breaches and other forms of violence was likely to occur.
This, she said, could plunge the country back to violence.
After losing support from America, the CTSAMVM’s cease-fire monitoring body asserted that lack of funds had made it difficult for them to effectively carry out their duties.
The September 2018 peace agreement entrusted CTSAMVM with the responsibility of managing the monitoring, verification, compliance, and reporting to IGAD and JMEC for pre-transitional ceasefire security arrangements implementation.
The RJMEC is in charge of overseeing the monitoring and verification mechanism’s work. This includes ensuring that the parties adhere to the agreed-upon implementation timelines. (CTSAMVM).
Early this month, RJMEC said that CTSAMVM field staff have gone for months without pay after the government failed to remit the funds. Also facing similar financial challenges is the National Transitional Committee, the National Constitution Amendment Committee (NCAC) and Judicial Reforms Committee (JRC).
NTC, the body that caters for the wellbeing of unified forces, was reportedly kicked out of the hostels due to accumulated bills.
“It is disappointing that monitoring and verification teams are unable to operate due to non-payment of 10 months’ allowances to national monitors, which has led to their boycott,” Charles Gituai, RJMEC interim chair said on March 2.
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