Nicholas Haysom, the new Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in South Sudan and the head of UNMISS has said that the scheduled elections stipulated in the revitalized peace agreement will take place and is the only way the restive country can graduate from its transition to a country in charge of its destiny.
Radio Tamazuj sounded him out in an exclusive interview on a broad range of issues. Below are edited excerpts:
Q: What is the relationship between the government of South Sudan and UNMISS?
A: Well, the government of South Sudan is of course the host government and we have, to the extent we are able, a constructive and collaborative relationship. We both have an interest in implementing the revitalized peace agreement and we would like to work closely with the government and with other stakeholders in this task.
Q: UNMISS has been organizing a series of peace conferences across the country and yet they do not seem to be bearing any positive results. What is the way forward?
A: I think the attempt is to convince groups to live side by side, to meet one another, and to reach an agreement on the arrangements by which they can live in peace and harmony, it is an important initiative. And there have been several cases where it has made a significant difference.
Quite frankly, for communities to reach an agreement on living together peacefully is more effective than trying to enforce peace through the barrel of guns. So we recognize the importance of our work in bringing communities together without in any way playing down the importance of the work which our peacemakers do. We see the work between the peacekeepers and our civil affairs activists as complementary.
Q: As you might be aware that there have been so many agreements signed by the communities which have been sponsored by UNMISS. Do you think those agreements have resulted in a positive change?
A: We will continue to do that work and in fact, I would like to see the range and the intensity of that work to continue. I do think we need to work also at the other end of the spectrum which is at the national level. Because I think national leaders have an important role to play in signifying the need for peace and the importance of respecting peace and the importance of supporting local-level initiatives.
Q: What is your take on the progress of the implementation of the peace agreement in South Sudan?
A: Quite frankly, like many, I think the prevailing view was that it has been moving slowly, but we have seen that the pace has picked up a little with the appointment of the transitional legislature, the launch of the permanent constitution-making process. We would like to see further progress, particularly before 9 July, which as you know is the tenth anniversary, we believe it possible.
What I have heard from community leaders across the country and from national leaders, is a sense of urgency and recognition that the international community, in any event, is looking closely to see progress at this point. And I think progress can be achieved across a broad front. Some of the progress is in small steps, some in bigger steps, but provided we can continue to make progress, I believe it gives ordinary people confidence in the future.
Q: What role is UNMISS playing or going to play in organizing planned national elections? Do you think the elections will come to pass considering the delays in the peace implementation?
A: Yes, I think there will be elections. There is broad support for it from what we can tell and our interviews with ordinary people. Exactly when it will take place, I think is still up to discussion and agreement, but the fact that there will be elections so that the country, as it were, can graduate from its transition to a country in charge of its destiny in every way, then I certainly think there will be elections.
The UN is best at playing a technical support role. We manage elections across Africa. Almost always it is in support of the local authorities, local stakeholders and then we very often play a complementary role with organizations such IGAD and AU, which are more effective in establishing standards that have to be met through elections and in observing the elections. So I think we can expect that there will be considerable international interest in the elections and willingness to assist. At the end of the day, the elections will be run by the South Sudanese themselves.
Q: What will UNMISS do in the event the peace partners fail to implement the peace agreement within the stipulated time frame, transitional period, and elections can’t be held? Will there be an extension for the period in which to implement the agreement?
A: We have not heard many proposals at this stage. That is not an issue we have had to discuss.
Q: What is UNMISS doing in terms of inclusive governance in South Sudan?
A: All our field officers, and we have field offices in all ten states, are engaged with governors, cabinets of the governors, and the deputy governors in attempting to help them, firstly stand up as local state governments. Many of them are short of facilities, resources, and supplies. But we are trying to help them, where we can, we are trying to facilitate workshops where they can agree on a joint program. Preliminary evidence shows that where governors and deputy governors and cabinets work together and they can establish a vision of what they want to do and a program on how to go about it, they have been more successful. Not only in accomplishing what they want to do, but in attracting international interest and investments in their areas.
Q: What is UNMISS doing at the moment in expediting the implementation of the peace agreement which seems to have stalled?
A: I think within a wide range of activities, from the peacekeepers we are attempting to project safety and security for ordinary people by conducting hundreds of patrols a week, to a political engagement at the local level in convening communities that are trying to find an arrangement to live together. I think at the national level, we are offering expertise and assistance to the national government in making progress down the revitalized peace agreement.
Although we are not road builders, we have committed our engineering departments to repair up to four thousand kilometers of roads a year. We are giving governors resources to build police stations, courts, and prisons across the country so that there is a justice chain to operators in alternative to inter-communal violence. So it is a broad front of activities to help South Sudan make progress in its transition.
Q: There have been a series of insecurity incidents in the recent past in Central Equatoria State, specifically in Yei, Lainya, and Kajo-Keji counties. What is UNMISS doing to quell this situation?
A: Well, I know that our patrols are operative throughout the three Equatorian states, but we have become particularly concerned recently to assist in ensuring that the major highways are safe from robbery because we see this as arterial highways, in other words, life-lines to the places where goods are imported or exported and we must contribute to keeping them safe.
Q: There are still thousands of IDPs sheltering in PoCs that were established by the UNMISS across the country. Your predecessor, David Shearer, was pushing for the security of these facilities to be taken over by the government amid fears from the IDPs who said they do not trust government security. What approach have you come with to address this impasse?
A: I haven’t changed the arrangement and rebalancing of the security forces, but I should just remind you that the areas which have been redesignated have had no problems at all. So, many of the fears that the communities may have had, that they did not express to me when I visited them recently, do not seem to have materialized. There was one outstanding POC site, which is Malakal, and in that regard because of the precarious position of that site and the volatile conditions in the area we have decided not to redesignate it at this particular point.
Q: The peace agreement talks about the repatriation of refugees back to South Sudan. Is UNMISS going to help in the repatriation of refugees and IDPs back to their homes before the end of the transitional period?
A: We will always help with the return of refugees but we are not a specialist refugee return agency. Other UN agencies take on that task and we will give every support to do so. The most important support we can give them is to establish safe and secure conditions in the countryside where they would like to return to.
Q: What challenges have you faced since you assumed office as the head of UNMISS?
A: Quite frankly it is too early to tell. I have been here four weeks and it is a complicated mission and I am still in the process of acquainting myself with the various tasks but I have just finished visiting all ten states. Frankly, I am deeply appreciative of the work that David Shearer undertook and I think that he spent a considerable amount of time trying to rebalance the forces so that we were best placed to have an impact in the situation as we could, given the possibilities and our limitations.
Q: Based on your visits to the state, what were the major concerns raised by civilians there?
A: There was widespread concern about the rise in what we call communal violence, but of course it includes cattle rustling and other forms of friction which lead to attacks and counterattacks and the ensuing cycle of violence between communities. Many of the government's expressed concern about that and the prevalence of firearms throughout the country.
There seems to be broad support for an initiative to try and remove firearms from civilians across the country, but also a recognition that this is something that can only take place with the wide support of civilians.
Q: What is your message to the government and people of South Sudan?
A: Well, I would just like to encourage them to make progress in the implementation of the peace agreement. I come from a country that also went through a complicated transition. I think you have to be prepared to take risks and to invest in the future. I would like to encourage the government and the other political stakeholders to be bold in approaching the future.
While I am on the topic, can I also say that respect for the work of the media is important, including your particular station, and I want to wish you well. This is my first interview with the local media so I take this opportunity to congratulate you for your work.