Jean-pierre Lacroix, UN under-secretary for peacekeeping operations

UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK (Eye Radio) – The UN peacekeeping chief, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, informed the Security Council on Tuesday that South Sudan’s 2018 peace agreement has taken a “dangerous direction,” a trend that now threatens to derail the country’s stability and the viability of the 2026 elections.

Speaking to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned that the trust deficit among South Sudan’s key political players has widened significantly over the last three months.

He attributed this mistrust to widespread ceasefire violations and continuous clashes among the signatories of the Revitalized Peace Agreement (R-ARCSS).

Lacroix stated that the core of the crisis stems from repeated unilateral decisions—specifically citing the removal of opposition appointees from the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU)—which he said appear to have “sacrificed” the principle of inclusivity that underpins the peace deal.

As political compromise rapidly diminishes, he noted that the implementation of transitional security arrangements remains stalled, and concrete steps toward the constitution-making and electoral processes are absent.

Mr. Lacroix stated that, “credible and peaceful elections within the timelines of the Peace Agreement in December 2026 appear increasingly improbable.”

To mitigate the crisis, he called for fresh political commitment and dialogue between South Sudan’s leaders, echoing a prior call by the African Union for IGAD and neighboring states to re-energize efforts to ensure the peace agreement’s implementation.