UNAMID exit strategy committee to meet in New York next March
January 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The tripartite team tasked with developing an exit strategy for the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has decided to hold a meeting next March in New York.
The panel was expected to sign an agreement last May. But in June, Sudanese officials said that the UN retracted from an agreement reached by the joint team on an exit strategy.
The committee, which resumed its meetings Thursday in Addis Ababa, has agreed to continue the joint work to implement the mission’s exit strategy.
The Sudanese delegation to the Addis Ababa meeting was headed by the director of bilateral and regional relations department at the foreign ministry Dafaa Allah al-Hag Ali while the UN delegation was chaired by the deputy secretary general for peacekeeping operations and the AU team was headed by the African peace and security commissioner.
Last year, UN Security Council that UNAMID could only withdraw gradually from West Darfur, and leave from three bases in West, North and South Darfur, in areas that do not currently necessitate its presence.
In a briefing to the UN Security Council on 26 January 2016, the head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, said the United Nations remained committed to developing the UNAMID’s exit strategy on the basis of concrete and tangible achievements against its benchmarks.
“We do look forward to full commitment to the Government in making measurable progress against key benchmarks, such as cessation of hostilities, inclusive peace process, and unhindered access and movement of United Nations and humanitarian personnel, as the starting point for further discussions on the phased drawdown of UNAMID,” he further stressed.
Khartoum says the rebel groups have no longer any presence in the region and points to its efforts to end tribal violence in the region.
Sudan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadiq said the meeting underscored that UNAMID wouldn’t establish permanent presence in Sudan just like similar operations in other parts of the world, pointing the team agreed to hold another meeting by the end of March in New York.
He told the official news agency (SUNA) the meeting also stressed the need to activate other mechanisms to coordinate cooperation between the three parties.
The hybrid mission has been deployed in Darfur since December 2007 with a mandate to stem violence against civilians in the restive region.
It is the world’s second largest international peacekeeping force with an annual budget of $1.35 billion and almost 20,000 troops.
UN agencies say there are nearly 2.5 million displaced persons in Darfur, despite the signing of a framework peace agreement in Doha in July 2011.
(ST)