Relief agencies call for lasting peace in S. Sudan

Seven international relief agencies on Monday called on regional leaders and donors to renew efforts to push for a lasting peace agreement in South Sudan.

The agencies warned in a joint statement that South Sudan is in danger of being forgotten at a time when aid operations are critical both in the country and regionally, due to so many other conflicts raging across the globe.

"Multiple peace agreements and ceasefire promises signed in both Addis Ababa and Arusha have been made and subsequently broken, while people in South Sudan continue to suffer," said Nigel Tricks, regional director of aid charity Oxfam.

"As the fighting continues and leaders fail to reach a lasting commitment for peace, the intervention of regional leaders, donors and other actors has become ever more urgent," he said.

The two warring parties in South Sudan signed a peace agreement in Addis Ababa on Feb. 2 witnessed by regional leaders.

Under the new peace pact, the warring parties agreed to meet for further talks on Feb. 19 before the negotiation for the final and comprehensive peace pact resume on March 5.

The conflict has resulted in the suffering of millions of South Sudanese, with some 50,000 believed to have died, 2.5 million experiencing severe hunger, and half a million having fled to neighbouring countries.

The statement came as regional leaders, donor countries and United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos met at a pledging conference in Kenya's capital Nairobi on Monday for the second time since conflict began in South Sudan in December 2013.

"If the influential parties don't do more to urge South Sudan's warring leaders to address the core drivers of their conflict, aid will remain merely an expensive band-aid solution, and millions more will suffer hunger in the coming year," the agencies said.

They called for the parties attending Monday's meeting to ensure that the peace agreements made are lasting.

Danish Refugee Council Regional Director Heather Amstutz said the regional leaders and donors should also push for plans to meet the basic needs of the millions of victims of the violence, both within South Sudan and in neighbouring countries.

The security situation in South Sudan has deteriorated since political in-fighting between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, started in mid-December 2013. The hostilities subsequently turned into a full-fledged conflict that has sent nearly 100,000 civilians fleeing to United Nations bases around the country. Endi