South Sudan’s president has reached a cease-fire agreement with a rebel leader, a U.S. official said Friday, after a vicious cycle of revenge killings drew international alarm. It will be the first time the two sides have met since widespread violence broke out last December.A cease-fire in January between President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar fell apart within days. Ethnically targeted violence in the world’s youngest country broke out in December, killing thousands of people and forcing more than 1.3 million to flee their homes.

The U.N. Security Council has expressed “horror” at recent killings of civilians.

Friday’s meeting in Addis Ababa was the first face-to-face encounter between Kiir and Machar since the mass violence began, and it came a week after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Kiir to urge a revitalization of peace talks.

CCTV’s Elaine Reyes interviews Akshaya Kumar from “The Enough Project” to find out the significance of these talks.

South Sudan Leaders Reach Cease Fire

CCTV's Elaine Reyes interviews Akshaya Kumar from "The Enough Project" to find out the significance of talks in South Sudan.