Communication Office

PRESS RELEASE

(For Immediate Publication)

Tuesday, 07 October, 2025, South Sudan

RJMEC TO PARTIES, PEACE PARTNERS:  RESTORE FULL FIDELITY TO THE R-ARCSS, SAFEGUARD GAINS TO PREVENT A RELAPSE TO VIOLENCE IN SOUTH SUDAN

The Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) has today Tuesday October 7, 2025 convened its 4th extraordinary plenary meeting in Juba. 

In his address to the meeting, RJMEC Chairperson, Amb. Maj. Gen. George Owinow gave a detailed status update on the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), reporting that what started as a series of political and security tensions culminated in fatal clashes, including the 7th March incident in Nasir County, Upper Nile State, that claimed the life of a senior SSPDF General and an UNMISS helicopter crew member, among other fatalities. 

This was followed by the arrest, detention and subsequently arraignment in court of members of senior SPLM/A-IO leadership, a minister, an RJMEC member, senior military leaders and politicians, among them H.E. Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, the First Vice President.

“RJMEC urged the regional and international guarantors to urgently apply their diplomatic influence to resolve the political and security deadlock between the SPLM/A-IO and ITGoNU,” he said, reitarating the Commission’s call for an immediate ceasefire, dialogue, release of detainees and return to focus on the implementation of the R-ARCSS. 

“This call was widely supported by national, regional and international peace actors,” he noted. 

In his address to the extraordinary meeting, Amb. Owinow said, “There is no doubt therefore that the R-ARCSS is facing its greatest challenge since its signing. If the current challenges are not urgently addressed, there is a high risk of reversal of the gains already made and may lead to a collapse of the Agreement altogether,”He continued,  “systematic violations of the R-ARCSS” …”called into serious question the commitment of the Parties to the R-ARCSS in letter and spirit” and consequently “undermined trust and confidence in the peace process.”

In RJMEC’s analysis,he said,  this is attributable to several factors, including, among others, mistrust between the Parties to the R-ARCSS and lack of collegiality and genuine consultations by Parties to the R-ARCSS resulting in unilateral decisions that further erode trust.

“It has equally thrown a spotlight on the role of the national, regional and international guarantors and peace partners,” he said. He added, “My assessment is that the region, the continent and the international community are well aware of the precarious situation that South Sudan finds itself in. 

In his conclusion,  Amb. Owinow  said, “It is a shared concern, generally, that despite the commendable progress that had been made since the signing of the R-ARCSS in September 2018, the country is once again at a pivotal moment.”