January 7th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – The Japanese government has sent an aid shipments to South Sudan as part of its support for the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement signed in September 2018, the Japanese envoy to Juba said.
South Sudan government and opposition groups signed a revitalized version of a 2015 peace agreement which had collapsed in July 2016.
The agreement called for the reunification of the rival forces to form the country’s first professional national army.
That part of the agreement, like other provisions of the 2018 peace deal, has witnessed setbacks as parties have been reluctant to speed up the process over different perceptions.
The Japanese ambassador to South Sudan, Seiji Okada, told reporters at Juba airport that the shipments of aid, including tents, water containers, blankets, sleeping mats, among other items, will be sent to military training centres.
“The total amount of in-kind support is 260 metric tons, which is equivalent to 4 million USD. This is the first arrival because we are bringing the support in seven flights,” Okada said quoted by Radio Tamazuj.
“We are very happy to receive this in-kind support from the government of Japan,” Gabriel Changson Chang who is the Deputy Chairperson of National Pre-Transitional Committee (NPTC), said.
Those who have been moved from the cantonment areas to the training centres will now get shelters and other necessary materials,” Changson added.
“The forces are reporting themselves to the training centres, so I am sure the majority will be there next week. During our meeting with security sector mechanisms, we advised them to start the process of training with the first batch so that they are graduated gradually,” he further said.
