Keynote Lecture by Mr Nicholas Haysom: Sudan and South Sudan, Prognosis for Peace

Sudan has experienced intermittent civil wars for more than five decades as a result of political, economic, religious and cultural conflicts. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 had little real effect, and in 2011 South Sudan became independent. An internationally backed peace agreement in the south collapsed in 2016, and human rights violations and severe humanitarian crises continue to plague both countries. What are the prognoses for peace, or are both Sudans doomed to perpetual turmoil?

Mr Nicholas Haysom was a leader of the South African Student Union in the late 1970s, during which time he was placed under house arrest and in incommunicado detention by the apartheid government. He then worked as a labor lawyer and human rights lawyer in the 1980s. Following Nelson Mandela's release, he served as his personal legal adviser, chief constitutional negotiator and then the ANC government's legal adviser throughout the 1990s. In addition, he chaired the selection committee for the membership of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Committee. From the 2000s, he worked as a peace negotiator in numerous conflicts, and headed the UN's constitution drafting support unit in Iraq in 2005, then became director of Political Affairs in the Secretary General's Office. From 2014 he was Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Afghanistan, until taking up his post as UN Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan.

Venue: European University Institute, Florence

Date: 2 May 2017, 17:00-19:00

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