UNAMID starts building new base in Jebel Marra
February 19, 2018 (KHARTOUM) The hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) on Monday has circulated photos of preliminary establishments at its new base in Golo area, Central Darfur State.
In June 2017, the UN Security Council extended the UNAMID mandate for another year and redefined its mandate to play a double role.
In Jebel Marra, the force has to continue to protect civilians and ensure the delivery of emergency relief. In the other areas of Darfur, the mission has to focus on stabilising the situation.
On January 28, the Sudanese government officially handed over a land to UNAMID to establish a Temporary Operating Base (TOB) in Golo, Jebel Marra.
In a Twitter message on Monday, the Mission showed pictures of the preliminary establishments at the new temporary base in Golo.
It pointed out that a “UNAMID team recently visited Golo and Rokero to assess the security and humanitarian needs of people living here; they also engaged with local authorities”.
A tripartite committee on Darfur peacekeeping force decided to establish this site taking into account the presence of Sudan Liberation Movement -Abdel Wahid fighters. The rebel group refuses to join the peace process or to declare a truce.
Last June, the African Union and the United Nations decided to draw down the UNAMID by withdrawing the military personnel by 44% and that of the police component by 30%, the closure of 11 team sites in the first phase and the withdrawal of the military component from another seven team sites in the second phase.
UN agencies estimate that over 300,000 people were killed in the conflict, and over 2.5 million were displaced.
The hybrid mission has been deployed in Darfur since December 2007 with a mandate to stem violence against civilians in western Sudan’s region.
It is the world’s second-largest international peacekeeping force with an annual budget of $1.35 billion and almost 20,000 troops.
(ST)