JUBA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency on Monday called on South Sudan's warring parties to the conflict to fully implement the revitalized peace agreement which was signed in Ethiopia last week.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement issued in Juba that the signing of the landmark peace deal is a critical milestone towards permanent ceasefire and lasting peace for millions of war-ravaged South Sudanese.
The peace process must include the voices of refugees and those displaced inside of South Sudan to bring an end to years of senseless suffering, said Arnauld Akodjenou, UNHCR special adviser on the South Sudan situation.
Leaders of South Sudan's warring parties on Sept. 13 signed a final power-sharing deal in Ethiopia, aimed at ending a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 4 million both internally and externally since 2013.
In the deal, the peace partners are expected to form a new transitional unity government in the next eight months.
The UN agency called on all parties to the conflict to uphold the deal for South Sudan to maintain a sustainable and permanent peace.
"UNHCR stands ready to support all parties who genuinely strive to achieve an inclusive peace process, which includes a provision in the signed accord requiring the agreement be disseminated to the 2.5 million South Sudanese living in exile across six countries," it said.
South Sudan descended into civil war in late 2013, and the conflict has created one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world.
A peace deal signed in August 2015 collapsed following renewed violence in the capital, Juba in July 2016.
