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IOL News
6 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Nicholas Haysom's inspiring journey: From apartheid activist to UN peace advocate
Working alongside Nelson Mandela, Nicholas Haysom played a pivotal role in shaping South Africa's democratic future. Image: United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) / Facebook Nicholas 'Fink' Haysom, a young white activist, risked detention in South Africa to oppose the apartheid regime. He later worked alongside Nelson Mandela and continues to pursue peace and human rights today as special representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan and head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Haysom recently shared his story on Awake At Night, a United Nations (UN) podcast. Melissa Fleming, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, conducted the interview. Haysom grew up in a white family in KwaZulu-Natal, and from an early age, he was conscious of apartheid. 'I think it would have been really surprising if I hadn't been able to kind of witness and acknowledge the cruelty of systematic racial discrimination,' Haysom said. Having politically conscious parents and siblings who had been involved as activists made it easy for Haysom to become a critic of apartheid. He grew up in an environment in which opposing apartheid was a sign of your humanity rather than a source of fear. He was detained or arrested five or six times. Although deciding to pursue law at university, Haysom believed the law and legal route were not going to be a way in which South Africa would transform. He said they never thought apartheid would end, but things changed when Mandela was released from prison in 1990. The ANC asked him to join its legal and constitutional negotiations team, the Constitutional Commission, where he spent two or three years amid a group of intellectuals whose task was to negotiate and conceptualise the kind of South Africa they wanted to build and to negotiate with the National Party government on how they would get there. 'Getting there was also as complicated as trying to find the kind of formula for a perfect constitutional state that properly appreciated the need for equality among all its citizens,' Haysom said. 'It was both exciting in the conceptualisation part, but also the implementation. And I think that's what led to me being asked to be Mandela's legal advisor in the office of the Presidency while he was president. 'I think people… when they think of Mandela, they think simply of a gentle, kind old man, but he was steely, strong in the conviction he had that he was embarking on the right path. And he persevered, and as I say to my children, 'The lesson of Mandela is not just being a nice person, it's perseverance in your ideals that will change the world'.' He said Mandela was adamant that his first government would set an example in respect for the rule of law. Nicholas Haysom reflects on his journey from a young activist in South Africa to a key figure in global peace efforts. Image: Isaac Billy/United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Following the end of Mandela's presidency, Haysom collaborated with former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, who was actively seeking a resolution to the conflict in Burundi. Nyerere's team eventually facilitated a peace agreement in Burundi. Haysom then spent several years in Kenya, mediating efforts to achieve peace in Sudan. These efforts ultimately led to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Sudan. After the Sudan peace agreement, the UN made contact, asking if Haysom would work in leading a constitutional advisory team in the UN, before joining former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon's team. 'There was a time when I was quite probably inappropriately proud of my engagement, particularly in Burundi and in Sudan and in South Africa, where the engagement and the approach we'd adopted had yielded fruit. But after a few years, I looked around and found that almost all of those peace agreements were in trouble. So, it's a recognition that peace agreements don't last forever, that peace itself doesn't last forever. Democracy is not something that can be taken for granted. These are all issues that require a kind of constant engagement by people of good intent,' Haysom said. He mentioned that he is in a challenging situation in South Sudan, which struggles to find a formula and process for the community to coexist. 'There is a government formed, and we are in the process of trying to assist the South Sudanese, put in place preparations for elections.' [email protected]
Daily Maverick
11-07-2025
- Daily Maverick
Owning your data: AI and African food systems
From fire to fossil fuels to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, humans have always been transforming society, says Gareth Haysom, a senior researcher at the African Centre for Cities. From 7 July 2025 until 20 July, the annual Food Indaba has as this year's theme the potential impacts and opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) on African food systems. On 9 July, an o nline Conference on AI, Knowledge & African Food Systems took place, featuring host Khanya Mncwabe, the CEO and co-founder of Matawi. Alison Pulker, a research assistant at the African Centre for Cities, Dr Anesu Makina, Postdoctoral Researcher at the African Centre for Cities, and Gareth Haysom, senior researcher at the African Centre for Cities, as well as Associate Professor in food security from the University of Namibia, Ndeyapo Nickanor, were panellists in the discussion. Pulker described the food system as everything from growing food to waste. She went on to define an urban system as things like transport into urban areas, electricity needed to store food, housing and social infrastructure — how food is distributed to people within a city. The food environment is how people can choose food; therefore power and policy come into play, with zoning laws for where food can be sold being an example used by Pulker. Data from African cities Haysom introduced an AfriFOODlinks project, which looks at the city food systems in hub cities in countries like Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. Those cities then work with 10 more cities, and five European cities. They study what food systems in Africa need, feeding that information back to the public, and working with city officials. A report found that the world had predominantly transitioned to an urban environment by 2007, something Haysom found striking. Of the 2.2 billion food-insecure people, 1.7 billion live in urban and peri-urban areas. 'There's an absence of data from African urban areas,' said Nickanor on the politics of data. She noted that it was important to look at bias, transparency, academic integrity and intellectual property when thinking about AI. African ethics like ubuntu could be embodied when deploying AI, mused Makina, specifically concepts like human dignity and equitability. There should be discussions around monitoring, and systems needed to be tested locally, because there was diversity between countries and linguistic diversity in Africa. Big AI systems did not include marginalised people, and already showed a gender bias, Makina pointed out. Owning your data — and your life Haysom spoke of the evolution of society; first we transformed our lives with materials, then with energy, and now with information. From fire to fossil fuels to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. During industrialisation, the people who became known as the luddites destroyed machines because they feared they would replace labour. Haysom questioned if we should resist in a similar way, or embrace AI. He added that governance had to catch up, with rules and regulations, to technological development. He also said it would be important to ensure that technology worked in our interest, and did not follow the extractive pattern that had befallen Africa before. Extractivism generally refers to the raw minerals and material that are minimally processed before being shipped out to other countries. Pulker said that during her research they ran into an ethical consideration: how to protect data taken from people, and, during storage of that data, how to create long-term anonymity. Mncwane queried Makina on how to decolonise these systems. 'When we exclude people, the information is not good. Scholars should operate on principles like fairness… and create systems with AI, asking questions rooted in our own realities,' said Makina. She cited examples of chatbots for farmers that communicate in their own languages, and a basic phone that could detect pests, but remain low-tech for accessibility. 'At the policy level, the government should step up with infrastructure first, because people can't participate,' said Makina. Haysom said we needed to understand how we brought bias to systems; if we thought someone buying amagwinya meant that people were lazy, or if we thought that people were incredible strategic decision-makers, then we were asking AI questions that reflected this bias. AI and extractivism in Africa Daily Maverick asked the panel how we could ensure that AI worked in our collective interest, and did not turn into an extractive system in Africa. 'I think it sits on what we value and devalue. Where we assign value,' said Haysom. 'I think we need to work hard to amplify the value that we have; the value of our system is being eroded for a variety of reasons. 'I also want to be pragmatic and acknowledge that people are making decisions that might seem to be undervaluing our food system, but they are making decisions because other systems are not supporting them,' he said. 'How we as a society demand something fundamentally different in terms of governance; that governance and food systems, the laws, link to what is in the constitutions of our different countries, link to the Bill of Rights, link to economic and social justice, how do we embed AI data in the thinking of all of those processes so we can demand very different governance?' He questioned how we challenge the disposable nature of the food system, start to see our bodies as being just as polluted as our atmosphere, and how we could start valorising local and indigenous foods in different ways — the ways that were thrown out by colonialism because they did not suit the economic model. Makina said there was a need for a strong governance framework, and beyond the state with organisations and individuals. 'I know that policy frameworks are important, we're right at the beginning of developing policy frameworks around AI systems, but we also need strong monitoring frameworks by diverse people — social justice practitioners and academics,' said Makina. 'We need to ask the questions 'what is our interest?' and 'what is our interest in the food system?'. AfriFOODlinks is a project that has managed to show that Africa's food systems are not homogenous, in the same way that Africa is not homogenous,' said Pulker. 'Africa's diverse urban food systems are maybe something that we need to find out a bit more about before imposing what we think we're protecting,' said Pulker. DM
Arab Times
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
UN envoy urges Security Council to try to prevent renewed civil war in South Sudan
UNITED NATIONS, April 17, (AP): The top United Nations official in South Sudan urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to use its clout to prevent the world's newest nation from again plunging into civil war. Nicholas Haysom warned that the escalating rivalry between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and one of the country's vice presidents has degenerated into direct military confrontation between their parties. Recent fighting in the country's north, the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar and a campaign of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech are "fueling political and ethnic tensions - particularly on social media,' he said. Haysom, the UN special envoy and head of the almost 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, warned that "these conditions are darkly reminiscent of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts, which took over 400,000 lives.' There were high hopes for peace and stability after oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. But the country slid into civil war in December 2013 when forces loyal to Kiir, who is from the largest ethnic group in the country, called the Dinka, started battling those loyal to Machar, who is from the second-largest ethnic group, called the Nuer. A 2018 peace deal has been fragile, and implementation has been slow. A presidential election has been postponed until 2026. Haysom said, however, that the 2018 agreement "remains the only viable framework to break this cycle of violence in South Sudan.' "The overriding imperative now is to urgently avert a relapse into full-scale conflict, refocus efforts on accelerating the implementation of the agreement, and advance the transition towards South Sudan's first democratic elections,' he said. "Another war is a risk South Sudan simply cannot afford, nor can the wider region.' Haysom said the peacekeeping force is engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts with the African Union, the regional group Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, the Vatican and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to broker a peaceful solution. He called on the Security Council, the UN's most powerful body, to urge the rival parties to adhere to the ceasefire, exercise restraint and address differences through public dialogue.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UN Security Council urged to try to prevent renewed civil war in South Sudan
The top United Nations official in South Sudan urged the UN Security Council on Wednesday to use its clout to prevent the world's newest nation from again plunging into civil war. Nicholas Haysom warned that the escalating rivalry between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and one of the country's vice presidents has degenerated into direct military confrontation between their parties. Recent fighting in the country's north, the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar and a campaign of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech are 'fuelling political and ethnic tensions — particularly on social media', he said. Mr Haysom, the UN special envoy and head of the almost 20,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission in the country, warned that 'these conditions are darkly reminiscent of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts, which took over 400,000 lives'. There were high hopes for peace and stability after oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. But the country slid into civil war in December 2013 when forces loyal to Mr Kiir, who is from the largest ethnic group in the country, called the Dinka, started battling those loyal to Machar, who is from the second-largest ethnic group, called the Nuer. A 2018 peace deal has been fragile, and implementation has been slow. A presidential election has been postponed until 2026. Mr Haysom said, however, that the 2018 agreement 'remains the only viable framework to break this cycle of violence in South Sudan'. 'The overriding imperative now is to urgently avert a relapse into full-scale conflict, refocus efforts on accelerating the implementation of the agreement, and advance the transition towards South Sudan's first democratic elections,' he said. 'Another war is a risk South Sudan simply cannot afford, nor can the wider region.' Mr Haysom said the peacekeeping force is engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts with the African Union, the regional group Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, the Vatican and UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres to broker a peaceful solution. He called on the Security Council, the UN's most powerful body, to urge the rival parties to adhere to the ceasefire, exercise restraint and address differences through public dialogue. Edem Wosornu, the UN humanitarian office's operations director, reminded the council of her August warning of a 'perfect storm' of humanitarian, economic, political, security and environmental crises unfolding simultaneously. Eight months later, she said, 'the situation has deteriorated dramatically'. Ms Wosornu said 9.3 million South Sudanese, three-quarters of the population, need humanitarian assistance, half of them children. 'Almost 7.7 million people are acutely hungry, up from 7.1 million in the same period in 2024,' she said. Ms Wosornu said the UN humanitarian office projects that 650,000 children under five are at risk of severe acute malnutrition this year. 'If the political crisis is not averted,' she warned, 'the humanitarian nightmare will become a reality very quickly.'
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UN envoy urges Security Council to try to prevent renewed civil war in South Sudan
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The top United Nations official in South Sudan urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to use its clout to prevent the world's newest nation from again plunging into civil war. Nicholas Haysom warned that the escalating rivalry between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and one of the country's vice presidents has degenerated into direct military confrontation between their parties. Recent fighting in the country's north, the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar and a campaign of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech are 'fueling political and ethnic tensions — particularly on social media,' he said. Haysom, the U.N. special envoy and head of the almost 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, warned that 'these conditions are darkly reminiscent of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts, which took over 400,000 lives.' There were high hopes for peace and stability after oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. But the country slid into civil war in December 2013 when forces loyal to Kiir, who is from the largest ethnic group in the country, called the Dinka, started battling those loyal to Machar, who is from the second-largest ethnic group, called the Nuer. A 2018 peace deal has been fragile, and implementation has been slow. A presidential election has been postponed until 2026. Haysom said, however, that the 2018 agreement 'remains the only viable framework to break this cycle of violence in South Sudan.' 'The overriding imperative now is to urgently avert a relapse into full-scale conflict, refocus efforts on accelerating the implementation of the agreement, and advance the transition towards South Sudan's first democratic elections,' he said. 'Another war is a risk South Sudan simply cannot afford, nor can the wider region.' Haysom said the peacekeeping force is engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts with the African Union, the regional group Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, the Vatican and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to broker a peaceful solution. He called on the Security Council, the U.N.'s most powerful body, to urge the rival parties to adhere to the ceasefire, exercise restraint and address differences through public dialogue. Edem Wosornu, the U.N. humanitarian office's operations director, reminded the council of her August warning of a 'perfect storm' of humanitarian, economic, political, security and environmental crises unfolding simultaneously. Eight months later, she said, 'the situation has deteriorated dramatically.' Wosornu said 9.3 million South Sudanese, three-quarters of the population, need humanitarian assistance, half of them children. 'Almost 7.7 million people are acutely hungry — up from 7.1 million in the same period in 2024,' she said. Wosornu said the U.N. humanitarian office projects that 650,000 children under 5 are at risk of severe acute malnutrition this year. 'If the political crisis is not averted,' she warned, 'the humanitarian nightmare will become a reality very quickly.' ___
