The United Nations Extends UN-AU Force Mandate in Darfur
Refugee Rights News
November 2009
In August 2009, the military head of the United Nations and African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), General Martin Luther Agwai, said “as of today, I would not say that there is a war going on in Darfur.” The situation on the ground, however, remains far from peaceful. Millions remain displaced and millions more are still dependent on humanitarian assistance for their basic needs. The situation on the ground remains extremely insecure and, although large scale attacks on civilians on the scale of the 2003-2004 period of the conflict are not occurring, more diffused patterns of violence have continued. And UNAMID is at the forefront of responding. Created and authorized in July 2007, UNAMID’s main purpose is to protect civilians and promote peace in Darfur. At full strength, it is set to have 26,000 military, police and civilian personnel, making it the largest peacekeeping mission in the world.
In September 2009, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies reported significant attacks on the Korma areas of Darfur. A press release issued in early October by Human Rights Watch on the violence in the Korma areas of Darfur stated that “recent clashes between the governing party-led Sudan Armed Forces and rebels in September and the use of indiscriminate bombings demonstrate that the war is not over. Government air and ground attacks on villages around Korma North Darfur on September 17 and 18 reportedly killed 16 civilians, including women, and burned several villages.”
Civilians in Darfur have looked to the international community for protection, particularly through the deployment of peacekeepers. However, despite significant international efforts, security on the ground remains elusive and access for humanitarian agencies has become more difficult. In the midst of these security challenges, the people of Darfur and the international community must continue to rely on UNAMID.
On 21 July 2009, the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) in its 198th meeting decided to extend UNAMID’s mandate for an additional 12 months based upon the UN Security Council Resolution 1769 of 31 July 2007, and requested the UN Security Council to do the same. On 30 July 2009, the UN Security Council agreed to extend the work of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur for another year. Specifically, as recorded by the UN News Service, Security Council members voted unanimously to keep UNAMID in place through the end of July 2010 and stressed the importance of protecting Darfur’s civilian population by ensuring humanitarian workers have unhindered access to those in need.
Although on the whole the text of UN Resolution 1881 remained consistent with the resolution which had authorised the mission the previous year, it included some progressive new provisions. The resolution, like its predecessors, emphasised “the importance of developing realistic and achievable goals against which to measure the progress of peace operations,” and tasked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to submit a work plan and updates on UNAMID’s progress in implementing its mandate. A new element in Resolution 1881, as noted by the British Ambassador to the UN John Sawers, was that the UN Security Council specifically welcomed “the important role of the African Union and the improved cooperation between the Government of Sudan and UNAMID.”
While acknowledging the positive contribution of UNAMID many NGOs, including the Save Darfur Coalition, have criticized the joint force as failing to deliver fully on its mandate. They point out for instance that UNAMID still lacks the resources and capacity to operate at full strength. At the end of July, it had just 13,430 uniformed personnel, most of whom are ex-AU forces from the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS). The mission also continues to face serious deployment and logistical challenges including difficult terrain, the remoteness of Darfur and a lack of basic equipment such as helicopters and vehicles.
NGOs are concerned that the international community’s stewardship of UNAMID is repeating the same mistakes that plagued AMIS, namely a failure to guarantee funds, equipment, personnel and political support to the mission. Although AMIS made some positive progress early on, the mission was ultimately unable to protect civilians. UNAMID cannot be left to suffer the same fate. In fact, UNAMID is faced with a tougher challenge and must do much more, including responding to attacks immediately, maintaining a presence in particularly sensitive areas such as IDP camps, managing Darfurian expectations and building confidence.
The world must make good on its promises to the people of Darfur and assist the struggling UN-AU mission. First, as analyzed by 22 NGOs in their strategy paper entitled “Building a Better UNAMID,” western powers like the United States, Britain, France and Canada must support train-equip-deploy efforts, prioritise mandate interpretation, and ensure that leadership on the ground promotes robust implementation of the UNAMID mandate. As the UN Secretary-General urged, “in the following months, 24 helicopters including 18 transport and 6 tactical helicopters must be delivered and operated effectively across the Darfur region.” “Countries with capacity must show the political will,” he added. Susanna Malcorra, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, echoed this call, saying that “we need member states to the United Nations to provide more to guarantee UNAMID ability to react swiftly to the security incidents in Darfur. We also hope that 90-95 per cent of the 26,000 soldiers can be deployed before the end of 2009.” Experts such as Jerry Fowler, who is the President of the Save Darfur Coalition, have urged that the international community honour its commitment to resource and deploy UNAMID fully. UN member states, international donors and troop-contributing countries must ensure outstanding resources are immediately donated to the force.
Second, Sudanese authorities must immediately cease their obstruction of UNAMID operations and deployment and ensure that government troops, police and allied militias do not harass UNAMID personnel and allow the force to move freely throughout Darfur. As the UN Secretary-General reported in November 2009, "[s]ince January 2009, there have been at least 42 incidents in which a UNAMID patrol was denied passage by a Government official, including incidents in which Government officials specifically threatened the safety of UNAMID staff and equipment."
Third, in spite of the fact that more hybrid peacekeepers and troops will be deployed in Darfur, even a fully resourced and deployed UN mission will not transform the conflict on its own. A full and robust deployment must form only one element of a broader strategy including the promotion and facilitation of political dialogue, protecting civilians (including, but not limited to, through support for UNAMID) and promoting accountability for previous and present human rights violations. A just and sustainable peace is needed and can only be pursued through a multi-faceted strategy.