A delegation from the African Union Peace and Security Council concluded a three-day fact-finding mission to South Sudan on Saturday, April 25, 2026, meeting with stakeholders to gauge progress on the country's peace agreement. Delegation head Ambassador Hirut Zemene Kassa said the Council will issue a public communique once members have reviewed what they learned on the ground.
What the mission covered
The visit, which ran from Thursday, April 23, to Saturday, April 25, 2026, focused on assessing South Sudan's political and security conditions and identifying ways the African Union could support the country's transition. Delegation members held discussions with various stakeholders about how the existing peace agreement is being implemented and exchanged views on pressing national concerns.
Ambassador Hirut said the team observed strong public appetite for democratic elections among South Sudanese citizens. "We understand there is a lot of interest from the South Sudanese to conduct a democratic election, and we saw and assessed firsthand what enabling environment should be facilitated to make sure that the very long transition has to end," she said.
Conditions for credible elections still under discussion
The Ambassador acknowledged that specifics remain unresolved. "We are still discussing how this implementation is ongoing and what the necessary conditions are to handle this election," she said. This signals that the delegation's visit was diagnostic rather than conclusive - the Council has not yet determined, publicly, what preconditions must be met before polls can credibly proceed.
What happens next
According to Ambassador Hirut, the information gathered during the mission will feed into the Council's internal deliberations. "We are leaving South Sudan with a lot of hope and getting important information for us to deliberate on. The Council, as is traditional, will go back and assess the discussions and will be releasing a communique, which will be shared with the public," she said.
That forthcoming communique is expected to state the Council's official position and offer recommendations for the next phase of South Sudan's peace process. No timeline for its release was specified, and the exact recommendations remain unknown until the document is published. The African Union's role, as described by the Ambassador, is to evaluate the situation and determine what support it can offer - not to dictate outcomes unilaterally.