Foreign Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of #Ethiopia and Chairperson of the IGAD Council of Ministers, H.E. Gedu Andargachew chaired the 67th Extraordinary Session of Council of Ministers, which opened in #Juba, #SouthSudan this afternoon (May 7).
The meeting aimed at taking stock of the progress made in the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement and the challenges encountered in meeting some of the key timelines and benchmarks.
Thanking his colleague Ministers for their congratulatory messages and best wishes on his new appointment as Foreign Minister, H.E. Gedu Andargachew recalled the meeting of the parties to the Revitalized Agreement under the auspices of #IGAD, which was held in Addis Ababa last week to review the status of implementation of the pre-transitional tasks, identify key challenges.
He commended the parties for their commitment to reach at consensus in extending the pre-transitional period for six months to allow for the full implementation of critical pending tasks. In connection, the Minister noted the importance of developing a clear roadmap and implementation schedules for the pending tasks.
Acknowledging the challenge related to finance, Minister Gedu commended the Transitional Government of National Unity for its pledges to commit 100 million US dollars to expedite the implementation of the pending tasks, which he said, would encourage regional and international partners to provide support to this process.
Despite the challenges and delays in meeting some of the timelines and benchmarks, Foreign Minister Gedu said progress has been made since the signing of the revitalized peace agreement, including the establishment and reconstitution of the necessary Agreement institutions and implementation mechanisms for the Pre-Transitional Period as well as improvements in the implementation of the Permanent Ceasefire. “I hope at the end of our meeting, we will be able to agree on the right course of action to help the process move forward,” he added. Source MoFA