Insecurity in Darfur hampers aid access

Thursday, July 12, 2007 (Washington, DC) – Yesterday, Ghana, Britain and
France circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations (UN) to
authorize a hybrid peacekeeping force for Darfur, of up to 26,000 troops
and police. Africa Action today emphasized that decisive diplomatic and
financial leadership by the U.S. at the UN is immediately necessary to
ensure the widespread support for and troop contributions to the
deployment of a robust peacekeeping mission.

In light of Sudan’s stated acceptance of a hybrid African Union (AU)–UN
mission last month, Africa Action further stated that the U.S. must use
its international leverage to ensure that deployment proceeds urgently.
UN estimates currently indicate that such a peacekeeping mission will
not be on the ground before 2008, anticipating a long process of
soliciting troop contributions.
Furthermore, the draft UN resolution establishes that command and
control of the peacekeeping mission will remain under the UN, a
potential point of contention with Khartoum. Africa Action urged that
the international community not allow Khartoum to manipulate such
negotiations to prevent concrete action to protect civilians.

Regional and international diplomatic actors in the Darfur peace process
will be in Libya on July 15 and 16, to push for a return to the
negotiating table. Over the past year, the rebel movements in Darfur
have splintered into various groups, seriously complicating the
prospects of a unified peace process.

Meanwhile, a UN report this week revealed that attacks against relief
workers have increase 150 percent in the past year and that, in June,
approximately one in six humanitarian convoys leaving the capitals of
Darfur provinces was ambushed by armed groups. There are currently
13,000 aid workers in Darfur, providing relief to more than 4 million
people, and violence has increasingly limited the ability of
humanitarian agencies to reach populations in need. The UN report also
showed that about two-thirds of the population in Darfur is now
dependent on relief aid.

Nii Akuetteh, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, “The
security situation in Darfur is spiraling out of control. When
humanitarian workers become targets of violence, their ability to
provide life-sustaining aid deteriorates. While the upcoming Tripoli
meeting attempts to pull the peace process back on track, it is
imperative that the international community work to improve security
conditions in Darfur immediately. Above all, the U.S. must show decisive
diplomatic, financial and logistical leadership at the UN to insure that
rapid deployment of the peacekeeping force begins now.”

This week, Africa Action released an analysis of the prospects of
peacekeeping for Darfur. This resource highlights the persistent
diplomatic obstacles to an effective deployment and calls for more
concerted U.S. and international pressure on Khartoum. The statement,
titled “Unkept Promises,” is available here:
http://www.africaaction.org/newsroom/docs/PeacekeepingStatusJuly07.pdf.

Three activists with the organization Stop Genocide Now are currently
visiting refugee camps along the Chad-Sudan border and posting daily
video web-casts at the website http://www.stopgenocidenow.org. These
videos provide the opportunity for viewers to experience the immediacy
of the ongoing genocide.

For more information on Africa Action’s Campaign to Stop Genocide in
Darfur, visit http://www.africaaction.org/darfur.