The first round of the promising peace process mediated by the regional Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) produced the breakthrough Machakos Protocol, with provisional agreements on the key issues of a self-determination referendum for the South, and religion and state. However, the government walked out of the second round after losing an important city on the battlefield in early September. IGAD mediators and the observer countries must devise a strategy for reviving the talks and then keeping the parties focused on negotiating a comprehensive solution, says an international think-tank.