Negotiations to bring peace to South Sudan have restarted in earnest, with the parties circulating a power-sharing plan that has failed once before. It is unclear if negotiators have a new strategy to successfully resurrect that agreement or if they are simply out of ideas.
What is clear is that there is no end in sight for the current negotiations, even as fighting rages on into a fifth year and aid agencies report that 9,000 people are estimated to be losing access to food every day.
Last December, the High-Level Resolution Forum (HLRF) announced a cessation of hostilities agreement between the myriad sides to the conflict. Set to come into force on Christmas Eve, the deal was the first hopeful sign in months.