The Path to Credible Elections in South Sudan

March 5-6 | New York

Over the past year, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) South Sudan Office has been convening a series of meetings of the informal “Reflection Group” to foster consensus-building among South Sudanese stakeholders on the establishment of conditions for credible Presidential elections in South Sudan, scheduled for December 2024.

In the context of these reflection meetings, FES has published the discussion paper titled “How (not) to hold elections in South Sudan” coauthored by Nic Cheeseman, Luka Biong and Edmund Yakani.

On March 5-6, the moderators of the Reflection Group on South Sudan’s first elections since independence, Mr. Edmund Yakani, Executive Director, Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), South Sudan and Dr. Anna Reuss, Country Director, FES South Sudan, traveled to New York to present recommendations for national engagement and discuss regional and international support in the lead-up to the elections.

The discussions were especially timely, given the impending decision of the UN Security Council on the mandate renewal for the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) by March 15. Co-organized alongside the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations, this debate was part of the FES New York “Perspectives from Africa” series, aimed at bringing timely insights from the work of FES’ Africa offices and partner organizations to members of the UN Security Council and the wider UN community.