UNAMID hands over its headquarters in Central Darfur

May 7, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – The former hybrid peacekeeping operation in western Sudan handed over its headquarters in the capital of Central Darfur state.

The United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) completed its mandate on 31 December 2020.

Initially, the closure of the UNAMID team sites was planned to end by 16 June, but it was decided to accelerate the drawdown before the start of the wet season to avoid further complications.

On 6 May, the UNAMID handed over its former headquarters in Zalingei to the governor of West Darfur representing the Sudanese government.

The ceremony was also attended by Zalingei University officials as the compound will host the academic institution.

The handover documents were signed by M’Baye Babacar Cissé, Assistant Secretary-General, on behalf of UNAMID and Adeeb Abdel Rahman, the Governor of Central Darfur State, signed on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Sudan.

The former UNAMID head and his deputy left their roles on 31 January 2021, along with the Force Commander and the Police Commissioner.

In statements to the official news agency SUNA, Abdel Rahman said the UNAMID team site was allocated to the University of Zalinge with the aim that contributes to the peace project in the state.

While the UNAMID drawdown and liquidation processes are in their final stage, the Sudanese government the armed groups signatories of the Juba peace agreement still did not deploy the joint forces in Darfur.

On 15 April 2021, the head of the government negotiating team Mohamed Hassan Eltaishi said that a first batch of the joint forces, between 3000 to 5000 troops, would be deployed in the Darfur region.

Eltaishi at the time attributed the delay to financial difficulties the government has been facing and the delay of the armed groups to hand over the lists of their forces participating in the force.

However, he asserted that the two problems have been solved.

(ST)