FILE PHOTO: President Ismail Omar Guelleh, the chairman of IGAD hosted virtual the 43rd Extraordinary Summit of IGAD Heads of State on South Sudan on March 12, 2025 - Courtesy

The IGAD Heads of State Summit has decided to form a ministerial committee to monitor and support peace efforts in South Sudan, ensuring all parties stick to the 2018 peace agreement.

This decision followed a call by Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, the current IGAD chair, for a virtual 43rd Extraordinary Summit of IGAD Heads of State on South Sudan, held on March 12, 2025.

In a communique, the heads of state resolved through the IGAD Chair, H.E. Ismail Omar Guelleh, to constitute an IGAD Ministerial-level sub-committee on South Sudan to effectively engage and monitor the restoration of calm and engagement on the revitalized peace agreement.

The statement commended President Salva Kiir for his efforts to de-escalate tensions following the Nasir incident.

They also praised President Kiir and 1st Vice President Dr. Riek Machar for jointly calling for calm and reiterating their collective commitment to preventing the country from returning to war.

Regarding inclusive governance and reconciliation, the summit expressed concern over the growing lack of trust and confidence among the parties to the R-ARCSS, which has been further eroded by recent incidents.

The leaders encouraged IGAD to intensify efforts to engage with all remaining holdout groups and urged them to renounce violence and join peace dialogues.

The summit also tasked the IGAD Ministerial Sub-Committee on South Sudan with traveling to Juba to assess how to initiate an inclusive dialogue, building on the status of the R-ARCSS and the outcomes of the Tumaini Initiative.

In the meantime, the leaders welcomed grassroots peace dialogues and encouraged religious and traditional leaders, as well as civil society, to support reconciliation efforts and advocate for the inclusion and empowerment of women, youth, and other underrepresented groups.

Finally, they emphasized the importance of partnerships with the African Union, United Nations, and international partners, while appealing for continued coordinated efforts to support the full implementation of the peace agreement.

The Wednesday’s virtual summit, brought together Workneh Gebeyehu, IGAD Executive Secretary,  Moussa Faki, the outgoing Chairperson of the African Union Commission; H.E. Mohamed Abdi Ware, IGAD Deputy Executive Secretary and H.E. Ambassador Ismail Wais (PhD), IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan and H.E. Ambassador Joram Biswaro, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission in South Sudan.

Others were H.E. Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in South Sudan; and the Chairs of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) and Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification
Mechanisms (CTSAMVM) as observers.