The Prime Minister of Ethiopia says failure by the leaders to implement the 2015 peace deal may lead to the collapse of the country and the region in general.

Earlier this week, the Center for Peace and Development and the Voluntary Civil Society Task Force said 75 percent of the transitional period had elapsed without significant achievements.

They said the agreement did not succeed in ending violence, restoring stability, reforming public institutions and improving the living conditions of ordinary citizens.

Hailemariam Desalegn, who spoke during his visit to Khartoum on Wednesday, said any failure by the South Sudan government will impact on the entire region negatively.

“I hope the leaders will understand that if they don’t implement the agreement, their country is going to collapse,” Mr. Desalegn stated.

“If that country collapses and fails, then all of us will be in trouble.

“So, we want to avoid the collapse of that country by implementing that agreement and I hope they will take this seriously.”

Ethiopian government under Prime Minister Desalegn helped mediate the South Sudan peace deal which was signed in August 2015.

Following the collapse of the permanent ceasefire in July 2016, the armed conflict expanded across the country and the parties to the conflict remain unwilling to return to the negotiating table, the US government said in July.

The consequences have been dire: 2 million people displaced inside country, nearly two million people displaced as refugees, and six million people facing life-threatening hunger.

The proliferation of violence, displacement, and food insecurity, according to a joint statement by EU and Troika member states,  renders any discussion of elections in the foreseeable future as an unnecessary diversion from the primary goals of achieving peace and reconciliation.

They called on South Sudan’s leaders, neighbors, and regional and international partners to first focus on achieving peace in order to create the conditions needed to hold credible elections.