File: Displaced women and children stay under a tree in Pibor/Courtesy photo

Some members of the public across the country are calling on peace parties to speed up the full implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

According to the implementation matrix of the peace deal, many provisions should have been implemented by now.

These include; the reconstitution of the transitional national legislature, the reunification of forces, full establishment of state governments and constitutional making process, and the economic sector reforms.

But most of these ambitious reforms have not been initiated or completed.

The governor of Upper Nile State is also yet to be appointed.

Speaking to Eye Radio on New Year’s Day, some South Sudanese in different states have expressed their expectations for 2021.

South Sudan fell into a civil war not long after it gained independence from Sudan, which came in July 2011.

The conflict raged from 2013 until September 2018 and pitted the forces of President Salva Kiir—against those of his Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar.

The UN said over 400,000 people died in the civil war, another 250,000 fled their homes, and around half of the population of 11 million are left in dire poverty.

In September 2018, the peace process was restarted with the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan.

However, the situation remains complicated.

The UN’s head of mission, David Shearer, recently reported to the UN Security Council that the peace accord is not being implemented as it should.

He said violence still afflicts large portions of the nation.