JUBA – Five strategic security sector documents have been validated by South Sudan’s Strategic Defense and Security Review Board (SDSR), prompting optimism from a key official.
Berhanu Kebede, chief of staff for the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), expressed confidence that this achievement would revitalize the implementation of the nation’s peace agreement, specifically the transitional security arrangements.
“I am optimistic that today’s achievement will create fresh momentum and impetus to the implementation of critical pending tasks of the agreement, particularly the transitional security arrangements,” Kebede said during a RJMEC meeting on Thursday.
Kebede urged the review board to continue its work and called on the South Sudanese government to rapidly adopt the documents, paving the way for a professional national security apparatus.
The validated documents are the Strategic Security Assessment, Security Policy Framework, Revised Defense Policy, Transformation Roadmap, and White Paper on Defense and Security.
Angelina Jany Teny, South Sudan’s National Minister of Interior and the chairperson of the Strategic Defense and Security Review Board, reiterated the board’s commitment to fostering nationwide stability.
“The Strategic Defense and Security Review Board would like to assure the people of South Sudan of its commitment to security sector transformation, that will finally bring lasting stability, peace, economic development and prosperity to the people of South Sudan,” said Teny.
The graduation of 83,000 unified forces, a key provision of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement, remains incomplete.