NTERNATIONAL MEDIATION IN SOUTH SUDAN: A PERSPECTIVE ON INTERNATIONAL LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Abstract

The Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Desertification was established in 1986 with a focus on drought and desertification, and re-launched in 1996 as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) with an expanded mandate that included conflict resolution. Expansion of the mandate was due in part to IGAD member states’ long history of cooperation and conflict with one another. IGAD’s conflict resolution attentions have historically focused on the northsouth conflict in Sudan (and now the south-south conflict) and various conflicts in Somalia. The IGAD peace process to resolve Sudan’s long running second-civil war (1983-2005) was launched in the early 1990s and gained traction in the late 1990s when Kenya was IGAD’s chair. IGAD’s mediation, led by General Lazaro Sumbeiywo, received significant support from the “Troika” (U.S., UK and Norway), particularly at the end of the process. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in 2005 and paved the way for South Sudan’s independence in 2011. Given IGAD’s history it was well-positioned to take the lead role in mediating South Sudan’s war. The IGAD mediation is led by a chief mediator, the former Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Seyoum Mesfin, who was joined by mediators from Kenya, General Lazaro Sumbeiywo, and Sudan, General Mohammed al-Dabbi. It is overseen by the Heads of State (HoS), also including Uganda.