JUBA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) Commission and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a trade bloc in eastern Africa, on Thursday launched a post-conflict needs assessment for South Sudan.
The assessment seeks to provide a snapshot of the most urgent needs for post-conflict recovery and a set of priority actions. The assessment process identifies needs, actions, and outcomes which are necessary to redress the consequences of conflict in South Sudan.
James Wani Igga, South Sudan's vice president in charge of economic cluster, said tackling the post-conflict needs of South Sudan possesses challenging problems depending on the period of instability.
"It is always right to compare post-conflict South Sudan with an identical scenario elsewhere in Africa. This will represent concrete lessons learned," Wani said during the launch of the program in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
Ismail Wais, IGAD's special envoy to South Sudan, said post-conflict needs assessment is meant to map the needs of the country to inform coherent post-conflict recovery strategies to transition toward peace.
Prospa Addo, a representative of the AU, said the post-conflict needs assessment will pave the way for national reconciliation, peace, and healing. "These peacebuilding efforts are usually aimed at preventing relapse into violation, consolidating peace, and addressing the root causes of this conflict."
South Sudan descended into conflict in December 2013, following a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar. The conflict has killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people, both internally and externally. ■