ADDIA ABABA, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The second phase of the Revitalization Forum on South Sudan continued on Friday as South Sudan factions started talks on the Pre-Transitional Period and National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC).

Participants, on the fifth day of the peace talks, started discussions on points stated on Article 13 of the Agreement of the Resolution of the Conflict on South Sudan (ARCSS), which was signed on August 2015, regarding the NCAC.

According to a statement issued by the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the peace process is "progressing well," and parties involved have started signing the declaration of principles.

South Sudanese parties have on Thursday "made a step forward on issues ranging from the Transitional National Legislative Assembly and the Council of States, the Judiciary to the Transitional Institutions and Mechanisms stipulated under Chapter I of Article 11, 12 and 14 of the Agreement," the statement said.

They have also reached consensus on Mandates of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) on the third day of the second phase of the Revitalization Forum.

The forum, led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), began on Monday with threats of punitive measures against warring sides in the background.

South Sudan descended into violence after a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy-turned rebel chief Riek Machar led to split in the army, leaving soldiers to fight alongside ethnic lines.

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.