JMEC receives additional funds from Germany

Germany’s additional contribution was announced at the office of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) in Juba on June 23, 2016, during the signing of a Funding Agreement between the German Ambassador Johannes Lehne and the JMEC Chairman, Festus Gontebanye Mogae.

The JMEC is responsible for monitoring and overseeing the implementation of the Agreement of the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS), including the adherence of the parties to the agreed timelines and implementation schedule.

Mogae, a former Botswanan Head of State says that operations of the JMEC were not yet at full scale. “Nevertheless, there is a duty to be done,” and the financial boost had come at the right time, he adds.

According to Morgae, one of the priorities now is the recruitment of required staff for the commission. He says the new staff will play a crucial role in consolidating what has been done and still needed to be accomplished. The new recruits are expected to fill gaps in the financial and legislation departments of the JMEC.

The German Ambassador Johannes Lehne says the funding provided ensure the JMEC is an efficient institution which can oversee the implementation of peace agreement.

The financial contribution, to be implemented by the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ), also serving as financial controller of the planned, targets mainly the supervision of the ceasefire and security arrangement. It is also expected to support strategies of reducing and reforming the armed forces in South Sudan.

Lehne announces that another funding agreement of five million Euro will soon be signed between his government and the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM).

“Only in cooperation with JMEC and CTSAMM, the government of South Sudan, which is now a united government will be able to overcome the difficulties the country is facing now,” Lehne says.

Germany provides support in various sectors in South Sudan, including peace-building, education, water and sanitation as well as rule of law, among others. Germany and several other supportive countries, try to ensure normalcy returns to South Sudan after a political turned violent, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions.

The country still faces a wide range of challenges, despite the August 2015 peace agreement signed between President Salva Kiir and the now First Vice President Riek Machar.