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Report: 2018 Peace Deal Was Not a Fix for South Sudan

Winnie Cirino

   JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN - A new International Crisis Group (ICG) report is
   urging South Sudan's leaders to consider a political model that uses
   consensus and inclusion to decide the country's future.

   Alan Boswell, a South Sudan researcher and author of the ICG report,
   said that although the initial 2018 peace deal signed by the country's
   warring parties halted the country's civil war, it was not a long-term
   fix for South Sudan's deeper problems.

   Boswell said he didn't expect the agreement to last, because he
   believed the ruling elites would turn against each other.

   Civil war threat remains

   "We don't think South Sudan's problems are going to be resolved by the
   transitional period that leads to elections, probably between the two
   different camps, and in which one side wins power and the other side
   loses power. We think that a 'winner-take-all' solution to South
   Sudan's problems is not a very good one for South Sudan," Boswell told
   VOA's South Sudan in Focus via WhatsApp.

   In the 33-page report released Wednesday, Boswell wrote, "Smaller
   conflicts are still ablaze and the threat of return to full-blown civil
   war remains."

   The report noted that South Sudan is a diverse country that lacks basic
   institutions. It concluded that the country was so fragile that it
   might not be possible to peacefully govern without broadly
   accommodating its diverse groups, and it expressed doubt that the
   elections scheduled for 2022 could be held without the country
   descending into more violence.

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