Peace monitors in South Sudan warned that time is running out for the cantonment, selection and training of the necessary unified force to be completed by September 30.

Augostino Njoroge, who is the interim head of the international monitoring body RJMEC in South Sudan, said time is running out for the training of the 50% of the 83,000 necessary unified forces.

This came at the 9th monthly meeting of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) in Juba on Thursday.

However, the peace monitoring body noted that some progress has been made on the operationalization of cantonment sites.

Njoroge called on the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (DDR) to immediately operationalize an action plan, which he said, is vital to the cantonment process.

Ambassador Njoroge applauded the recent face-to-face meeting between President Salva Kiir and the leader of the SPLM-IO, Riek Machar, saying that such meetings are critical for the successful implementation of the peace agreement.

“Their commitment to resolve the outstanding issues, either personally or by putting in place official mechanisms, is critical for the successful implementation in order to build trust and confidence among themselves and address the challenges facing implementation,” he said.
 
Njoroge concluded, telling those present: “I must remind the Parties once again how short the time is, and that they must work closely together in order to accomplish the remaining critical pending Pre-Transitional tasks within the remaining two months.”

The number of states and security arrangements remain the two biggest challenges in the September 2018 peace deal.

President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar said on Tuesday that they made significant progress in talks aimed at ironing out issues related to security arrangements. The two leaders agreed in Juba to ensure the transitional government is established by 12 November.