Church leaders are calling for the inclusion of all political parties and civil society in the ongoing peace talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Last Friday, President Salva Kiir and former Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, signed an agreement recommitting their forces to the cessation of hostilities.

IGAD mediators say the current round of talks will focus on the transitional arrangements and the constitution making in South Sudan.

The Catholic Archbishop of Juba, Paulino Lukudu Loro told church leaders at the South Sudan Council of Churches this morning that the participation of all South Sudanese in the peace talks is needed for a lasting solution.

“We would wish everybody in South Sudan really to be included because this is our situation, [it] is our country, it is our war, it is our responsibility to solve it,” Archbishop Lukudu said.

The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan, Daniel Deng Bul, said the churches will encourage President Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar to implement the agreement.

“We should write a letter with our way as a church….to encourage them that this step is welcomed by the people of the Republic of South Sudan.”

The bishops also said that they will soon call for a thanksgiving prayer for the peace agreement that was signed last week.