Reflecting on the IGAD peace process
An interview with Nicholas (Fink) Haysom
(2006)
Fink Haysom, a key member of Lazaro Sumbeiywo's negotiation team, reflects on the IGAD process, its breakthroughs, reverses and knife-edge moments. He describes the techniques the mediators used to break deadlocks and the risks they took, such as tabling their own proposals and bringing the two sides' principals together face-to-face. He emphasizes are that the text of an agreement cannot itself substitute for political will: the process elements in negotiations are vital in creating the will, the trust and the joint responsibility for the success of a peacemaking project.