Roundup: South Sudan's political process "not dead," but needs "resuscitation", UN envoy says

The political process in South Sudan is "not dead" but requires "significant resuscitation," a top UN official in the world's youngest country said here Tuesday.

"Regrettably, no party has shown interest in reviving the Peace Agreement," said David Shearer, the UN secretary-general's special representative and the head of UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), referring to the August 2015 accord between the country's warring parties.

Despite the peace accord, South Sudan slipped back into conflict due to renewed clashes between rival forces -- the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) loyal to President Salva Kiir and the SPLA in Opposition backing former First Vice-President Riek Machar.

Shearer, while speaking at an open meeting of the UN Security Council on South Sudan, noted that unlike this time last year, where the conflict was construed on a bipolar basis, the opposition has splintered today, making it necessary for UN peacebuilding efforts to be more widely cast than previously.

"Virtually no part of the country is immune from conflict," he said. "Yet, there has been no concerted effort by any party to adhere to a ceasefire. Instead, we are seeing an intensification of the conflict over the past month."

Shearer said that in some of the violence, government forces have responded to attacks by opposition forces, notably in Wau and the Equatorias. In others, in contrast, government-led operations such as those in Upper Nile and Jonglei appeared "more strategic in focus" and were aimed at taking opposition-held areas.

He stressed that the UNMISS will work together with partners on opportunities to forge a viable solution to end the hostilities.

"Despite what appears to be attempts by the parties to achieve victory through military means, a political solution is the only way forward for South Sudan," Shearer said, noting that military offensives are fracturing groups and intensifying ethnic divisions to a degree that will hinder reconciliation.

To revive the political process, the international community must speak with one voice, he said, urging the Security Council, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to unite in dealing with the parties.

Since his appointment to the current post in December 2016, he has travelled to all 10 of UNMISS' main field offices.

Shearer, who was born in 1957, is from New Zealand.

He said that UNMISS directly protects over 220,000 displaced civilians in six different locations across the country, and the 12,000 UN "blue helmets" and 2,000 UN police officers are vital to protect civilians more than ever.

Roadblocks and denial of flight safety assurances severely restricts UNMISS' ability to promptly reach key locations, but peacekeepers dispatched by troop-contributing countries are bravely trying to overcome many challenges, he said.

South Sudan has been shattered by civil war that broke out in December 2013 after President Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the accusation but then mobilized a rebel force.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 led to the formation of a transitional unity government in April, but was again devastated by fresh violence in July 2016.

Tens of thousands of South Sudanese have been killed, with more than two million displaced and another 4.6 million left severely food insecure since December 2013. Enditem