South African governance, constitutional and electoral reform specialist Nicholas “Fink” Haysom has been named as the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan.
He succeeds another South African Haile Menkerios and moves back to Africa after a stint in Afghanistan as Ban Ki-Moon’s special representative for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) since 2014. Prior to that Haysom had been deputy special representative of UNAMA since 2012.
He was previously director for political, peacekeeping and humanitarian affairs in the Executive Office on the UN Secretary-General (2007 to 2012) and head of the office of constitutional support for the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) from 2005 to 2007.
Haysom was chief legal and constitutional advisor in the Office of the South African President from 1994 to 1999.
He was also part of the Burundi peace talks as chair of the committee negotiating constitutional issues between 1999 and 2002 under the facilitation of former South African President, Nelson Mandela. Between 2002 and 2005 Haysom served as principal advisor to the mediator in the Sudanese peace process.
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