By Kitab Unango
The Head of the Swedish Mission in South Sudan, Thomas Brundin has called on parties to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement to complete critical pending tasks prior to holding elections.
“When it comes to cultural heritage, we need to have three things; we need to have peace, people need to have food, and we need to have development. Therefore, we need to implement the peace agreement as soon as possible,” Brundin said.
The pending tasks include enactment of permanent constitution, enactment of electoral laws and establishment of electoral institutions.
In addition, the full graduation of unified forces and their deployment is critical for holding peaceful elections in December 2024.
The diplomat revealed these remarks during the launch of the creativity and artistic freedom in South Sudan project in Juba.
Brundin emphasized the importance of cultural heritage and creative industry in promoting peace and social cohesion.
He said cultural values won’t be achieved without peace, freedom of expression and access to basic necessities that are hardly realized in violent situations.
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The three months project, implemented by the Hope Society through UNESCO, is part of the Swedish government’s global technical support to help beneficiary countries prepare cultural heritage data ahead of the next quadrennial period report due in 2024.
