Church leaders are urging the government and the SPLM in Opposition to reach a peace agreement quickly.

The warring parties, government and the SPLM-IO are currently holding peace talks in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan, Daniel Deng Bul, says development can only be achieved if there is peace.

The archbishop made the remark at the opening of a one-month training for peace and reconciliation mobilizers in Yei.

“On behalf of the churches we want peace today, we don’t want division. We need to be one, we are one people called South Sudanese,” Archbishop Bul.

At the same event, the Diocesan Bishop of Yei Episcopal Church of Sudan, Hillary Luate Adeba, also appealed to the two parties to commit to the peace talks.

He urged the warring parties to accept the past mistakes and reconcile.

“I’m calling upon the Government of South Sudan – those who are in Ethiopia negotiating, let them not complicate the situation, let them accept the reality for peace because the people of South Sudan are longing for peace, that is on the side of the Government,” he stressed.

“And it’s time for also the rebels to come and say ‘let’s end the war for the sake of the people of South Sudan’.”

More than 60 mobilisers drawn from all the ten states are participating in the training.