ADDIS ABABA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday called on members of South Sudan's National Dialogue Forum to support the revitalization process and lobby the country's leaders.
Ethiopian State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hirut Zemene, made the call during her meeting with members of the South Sudanese National Dialogue Forum in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Friday.
The second phase of the Revitalization Forum on South Sudan, which was held in February this year in Addis Ababa, was suspended by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) for an undetermined period so as to give warring sides more time to reach conclusive agreement.
Zemene, who urged to members of forum towards the realization of the peace process, also assured the Ethiopian government's strong commitment to bring lasting solution to the world's youngest nation.
Zemene, who hailed the positive spirit achieved during the latest round of peace talks, had previously urged the need to put in place a permanent ceasefire and transitional security arrangement in order to find a common ground for the finalization of a comprehensive agreement during the next phase of the peace talks.
Ethiopia, an influential South Sudan neighbor, currently shelters around half a million South Sudanese refugees and has hosted several rounds of peace talks since the South Sudan civil war erupted in December 2013.
South Sudan launched the long-awaited national dialogue initiative in May 2017 to open up avenues to discuss political, social and economic problems facing its people, and also offer a platform for reconciliation and healing the world's youngest nation torn apart by more than three years of civil war.
The conflict in South Sudan started as a dispute between President Salva Kiir and his ex-deputy Riek Machar but has since fragmented to several sides complicating efforts to achieve peace.
The 2015 Agreement of the Resolution of the Conflict on South Sudan, aimed at ending the conflict, was weakened after the outbreak of renewed fighting in July 2016 forced rebel leader Machar to flee South Sudan.