As South Sudan prepares for elections in 2024, the world's youngest nation sits at a "fork in the road", facing stark choices as it progresses in its critical transitional period amid a range of challenges, according to the UN's top official in the country.
Nicholas Haysom has served as the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for South Sudan since 2021, and also heads the UN mission in the country (UNMISS).
Part of his mandate is to monitor the implementation of the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement, which ended a brutal civil war. With years of experience in the region, he was the former head of the UN mission in Somalia, served as the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Sudan in 2019 and 2020, and was also the principal adviser to the mediator in the Sudanese Peace Process, from 2002 to 2005.
While in New York to brief the UN Security Council on current developments and challenges, he took some time to speak with UN News to delve into the current political landscape and spotlight the choices South Sudan now faces.
The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
UN News: You concluded your briefing to the Security Council by saying that the leaders of South Sudan face "a stark choice". Could you elaborate on how stark this choice is?
Nicholas Haysom: I think we're coming to a peak, a fork in the road almost in which what is on offer is completion of the transition in South Sudan culminating in a stable and democratic South Sudan, or more conflict should the wheels come off the transition, or should they fail to make the critical benchmarks set out in the peace agreement.
What is required is really a change in mindset in regard to the mindset that is required to complete this transition, one which is cognizant of the importance of collaboration and compromise between the political parties in the interests of nation building and progress on the peace agreement, or alternatively, a different approach which is, that almost every aspect of the transition is war, by other means, which doesn't privilege the nation-building dimension of the engagement.
UN News: You told the Council that 2023 is a "make it or break it" year for South Sudan. Why is this year so critical?
Nicholas Haysom:
