South Sudan's government has reaffirmed its commitment to holding the country's first-ever national elections in December 2026, even as the United Nations warns the young nation stands on the brink of civil war. Government spokesman Ateny Wek announced on Tuesday that the state would finance the elections using oil revenues, acknowledging the "difficulties" facing the country but insisting the vote would go ahead.

South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and is widely considered the world's youngest country, has never held national elections since its founding. President Salva Kiir has led the nation since independence. The country descended into civil war in 2013, and a 2018 peace agreement — which included a roadmap for elections — brought an uneasy end to that conflict. Elections originally scheduled under that deal for 2022 were repeatedly postponed.

The path to December remains deeply fraught. The South Sudan National Elections Commission has received virtually no funding to date, and many of the conditions set out in the 2018 peace accord have not been met, including the unification of rival armed forces. To get around this, the government says it will propose a series of amendments to the peace agreement in the National Assembly that would allow elections to proceed under different conditions. Critics, however, say the process is being rushed on flawed terms.

Adding to the instability, Vice President Riek Machar — the principal co-signatory of the 2018 deal alongside Kiir — is currently detained in the capital, Juba, while forces loosely aligned with him continue to clash with the national army in Jonglei, a region in the country's northeast. His party issued a statement on Monday condemning the government's approach to organising the vote as "non-inclusive" and a "violation" of the peace accord. Aid agencies operating in the country are also facing repeated attacks and struggling to function amid the violence, which has forced tens of thousands from their homes.

Why this matters: For a country ravaged by decades of conflict and extreme poverty, elections could represent a historic step toward democratic legitimacy. But experts warn that proceeding with a vote while key peace conditions remain unfulfilled — and while armed clashes continue — risks entrenching divisions rather than resolving them. The credibility of any election held in these circumstances is likely to face serious international scrutiny.