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Wind of change blowing towards Darfur
2007-06-16 09:13:34
By Anaclet Rwegayura, PST, Addis Ababa
Darfur is, at long last, getting some indication of a likely end to the bloody crisis that has riddled their native region in western Sudan for nearly four years.
Playing one of its primary responsibilities to protect African citizens from systematic killing, the African Union (AU) is not only on the way to bring about lasting reconciliation among armed rival groups in Darfur, but also to wield a more powerful stick against any recalcitrance in the region.
Emerging from a crucial round of consultations on June 12, 2007 with delegations of the Government of Sudan and the United Nations at the AU headquarters, AU peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit declared:
`We have finished our meeting on a very positive note and today we have very good news to give to the media and the public.`
Had it been on air at that time, Djinnit’s statement could send the Darfurians into a state of excitement.
Even to some watchers of the unheeded ceasefires and peace deals in Darfur, the outcome of the latest round of talks involving the AU and the UN on one side and
the authorities of Sudan on the other side was beyond expectation.
But, according to Djinnit, Sudan`s acceptance of the proposals jointly put forward by the AU and the UN on mobilising a Hybrid Operation for peacekeeping in Darfur was a result of a very constructive spirit that characterised the technical consultations.
Indeed, this will remain a great achievement for peace and development in Darfur provided the local population, the Government of Sudan and the international community in general cooperate with the AU and the UN in this venture.
Already experts on global peacekeeping operations see the proposed hybrid operation for Darfur as an important milestone in AU-UN cooperation.
Commenting on the hybrid operation, Alhaji M. Sarjoh Bah, a scholar with the Center on International Cooperation (CIC) at New York University, said both organizations would have to build on lessons learned to date and move past ad hoc cooperation towards joint planning, financing and support capacities for peacekeeping in Africa.
“Despite the relative political consensus and the unanimous decisions of the AU’s Peace and Security Council on the Darfur crisis, its operation there — the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) — ultimately fell short of expectations.
`Quite apart from flaws in the peace process, the AU was hampered by acute logistical challenges and the lack of an effective and predictable financial mechanism,` Bah said at the launch of the CIC Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2007 in Addis Ababa.
Conflicts in Burundi, Darfur and Somalia have forced the AU to launch peacekeeping operations, but the organization had neither adequate experience nor the wherewithal to manage its missions.
According to African diplomatic sources in Addis Ababa, some AU Member States, though expressing moral support to the operations, have been reluctant to contribute peacekeepers on grounds that the operations had no clear mandate.
The hybrid operation will allow more African troops to be deployed to Darfur under the UN flag, thus giving the AU a big relief in terms of the financial and technical support it had difficulty to garner for 7,000-plus troops and civilian police under AMIS.
For the hybrid operation, a force of either 17,000 or 19,000 troops will be deployed to Darfur depending on the availability of air and ground transport.
A strengthened and well-equipped force is necessary to deal with the deadly attacks by armed groups against agencies delivering humanitarian aid in the region.
Of late Darfur has witnessed a dramatic increase of ambushes by the same groups on AMIS and UN personnel, incidents of carjacking, abduction and armed clashes.
UN staff in Darfur say some areas have been inaccessible due to attacks despite the fact that those areas are under signatories of the Darfur Peace Agreement, concluded in May 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria, after lengthy negotiations that involved rebel groups and the Government of Sudan.
Despite the presence of AMIS, the security situation remains volatile and unpredictable.
Patrolling as well as monitoring and investigation of ceasefire violations on a difficult terrain such as Darfur requires an agile force that should be equipped with sturdy vehicles and helicopters.
A hybrid peacekeeping operation, as Djinnit admitted, is a unique situation.
Even for the UN it will be the first experience in Africa.
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