The UN - African Union Mission in Darfur

Mission Mandate

In July 2007, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1769 authorizing the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur (UNAMID) to address the humanitarian crisis in the western region of Sudan. This joint peacekeeping mission replaced a previous mission led solely by the African Union. UNAMID's mandate has been extended through July 2012.

The Misson's mandate includes:

• Supporting the implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA);
• Securing access for humanitarian assistance throughout Darfur;
• Creating an inclusive political process;
• Protecting civilians;
• Promoting human rights and rule of law;
• Monitoring and reporting on the situation along the borders with Chad and the Central African Republic;
• Implementing the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration program (DDR)

With nearly 23,000 soldiers and police, as well as a large contingent of civilian personnel, UNAMID is currently the largest UN peacekeeping mission in the world.

Background

In 2003, the Sudanese government in Khartoum, backed by a local Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, launched a violent campaign against Darfur’s rebel groups,    who had accused the government of oppression and neglect.   Read more || Hide text

How This Affects American Interests

• Facilitates humanitarian assistance. The exit of several critical NGO’s in West Darfur in late 2011 left a critical gap in the delivery of clean water to displaced communities in the state. In response UNAMID facilitates access for other UN Agencies, such as UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), implementatimg projects in six settlements in Masteri, Beida, Kongo Harazam, Arara, Sisi and Dorti, to encourage responsible water usage and sustainability. United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in close coordination with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) are currently implementing a drought mitigation project to repair and rehabilitate water harvesting infrastructure, in the face of expected drought and record low rainfall totals. UNAMID continues to supply water to areas of Darfur through other methods of transportation, including the use of mules. Last year, trucks hauled over 10,000 gallons of water to the northern village of Tora to help make bricks to build a school. UNAMID and several other UN agencies continue to appeal to international donors for $1 billion over the next six years to help finance 65 water system projects to help improve access to water in Darfur.


• Supports diplomacy. UNAMID’s Joint Special Representative (JSR) Ibrahim Gambari is working closely with AU-UN Chief Mediator Djibril Bassolé, resolving the ongoing conflict. UNAMID provides transportation and logistics for the rebel groups and the civil society inside Darfur to attend peace talks. The Obama Administration is equally committed to supporting the peace process in Sudan and appointed a U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman. Both the UN and U.S. encourage negotiations between the Justice Equality Movement (JEM), the region’s largest rebel group, and the Khartoum government. On July 14, 2011, following talks in Doha, Qatar, sponsored by the UN, AU, and the Arab League, the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM)—one of several rebel groups operating in Darfur—signed a peace agreement. U.S. and UN officials alike welcomed the accord, arguing that it represented an important step towards resolving the conflict, and in late August 2011, UNAMID convened the first meeting of a ceasefire commission tasked with monitoring compliance with the agreement. In February 2012, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the creation of the Darfur Regional Authority, a body intended to stimulate development and facilitate peace in the war-torn western region of Sudan. The Secretary General reiterated that the UN would support the Government and the LJM to carry the peace process forward. However, significant obstacles remain, as the SG appealed to armed movements which have not signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) to enter into negotiations towards a final agreement immediately and without preconditions.


• Provides security in camps. UNAMID police have conducted over 10,500 patrols to monitor the IDP camps, small towns and villages, with more than 6,000 patrols conducted since January 2011. Among other responsibilities, these patrols escort women while they gather water and firewood; a critically important task which helps to mitigate instances of sexual abuse and exploitation when women venture outside the camps. The voluntary return of refugees to the region is an encouraging sign with over 100,000 since January 2011. Despite this, a large number of refugees and displaced persons are continuing to be protected by UNAMID. In October 2011 UNAMID peacekeepers stationed in Darfur intensified patrols around IDP camps in an effort to protect against harassment of the local population by unidentified personnel. The UN received in March 2011, help from 89 person strong, all women police force to support the UNAMID mandate.


• Trains police in security. Relative stability continued during 2011 due to the combined efforts of UNAMID and Darfur police, as inter-ethnic violence and the number of overall fatalities in Darfur fell from the 2010 numbers of over 2,321deaths decreased to fewer than 750 deaths in 2011. Since the April 2010 presidential elections, UNAMID has been working to further the abilities of the police force by conducting seminars on investigative techniques and international human rights standards. Prior to the April 2010 election, UNAMID provided a nine-day election security training program for 4,625 police officers and 1,400 new police recruits in the three states of Darfur. Darfur was relatively stable and saw few major violent incidents during the election process.
  
  
• Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration (DDR) programs. Between 2009 and February 2012, the North Sudan Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission, with the support of the UN, registered 1,041 former child soldiers in Darfur. The program also provided HIV/AIDS counseling, material support, and occupational training to those who agreed to lay down their arms. The UN-AU mission continues to support the current mandate through its DDR program which helps former combatants reintegrate into society. In December 2011, the DDR program gained four new partners in a six month initiative aimed at providing agriculture, livestock, small business opportunities, and education to a total of 4,7775 participants in four states within Sudan. On April 18, 2011 the UN launched a campaign to disarm 1,000 combatants in 10 days. Over a two-week period, well over 1,000 ex-combatants gave up arms peacefully.


• Supporting women’s rights. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) supports four women’s centers in IDP camps in North Darfur. The centers offer skills training and income-generating activities. They also serve as neutral meeting places where discussion groups on sexual and gender based violnce (SGBV) issues, and health awareness, and education sessions can take place. Approximately 1,000 IDP women benefit from these programs. On Feb. 21, 2011, the official Darfur Women’s Legislative Caucus was created to ensure peace and equality of women within government policies. UNAMID is teaching the caucus strategic and development concepts on how to monitor equality within the government.
  

Ongoing Challenges

• Infrastructure and resource inadequacies. Deployment of UNAMID has been rendered more difficult by a number of factors: Darfur is the size of Texas; has very few roads or railways; little water, and the nearest port is 1,400 miles away. In the rainy season, large areas become nearly impassable, rendering both UNAMID and humanitarian operations exceedingly difficult. These challenges make UNAMID’s need for substantial aerial transportation resources even more salient. While the United States has supported UNAMID with heavy equipment and airlift assistance, Member States need to do more. In particular, the mission still requires utility helicopters. UNAMID cannot carry out its mandate to protect civilians and help with humanitarian efforts without the necessary resources.


• Government interferences. Darfur’s persistent insecurity and the Sudanese government’s tactics have hindered UNAMID’s peacekeeping efforts, including their ability to secure access for humanitarian relief. For example, the government in Khartoum has imposed stringent visa requirements and curtailed freedom of movement for peacekeepers and humanitarian aid workers. While most parts of Darfur are accessible to humanitarian organizations with UNAMID security escorts, access to West Jebel Marra has been repeatedly denied and intermittently restricted to the greater Jebel Marra, Shangil Tobaya and Um Barru areas, as well as to the camp in Zam Zam.


• Renewed violence and NGO saftey. Despite the decrease in violence there is still concern regarding the movement of people from Sudan to South Sudan and the escalation of violence. Security for humanitarian groups operating in the area is also in question as there have been numerous cases where rebels have pushed UN aid and other NGOs providing humanitarian aid, out of the region by moving troops closer to camps and operational areas. Kidnapping and killing of UNAMID Peacekeepers continues to be a problem. Most recently, February 29, 2012, an unidentified gunman fired on UNAMID peacekeepers killing one peacekeeper and injuring three others. Shortly after, on March 3, two other peacekeepers were wounded but survived a shooting attack on the bus in which they were travelling. Thirty -six UNAMID peacekeepers have been killed as a result of insurgent attacks since the joint UN-African Union mission took over in 2008. These events occur just months after three UN peacekeepers were killed and six wounded in an October 2011 ambush by a group of unidentified armed men in Zam Zam, a large IDP camp just beyond the outskirts of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. 
  


• Unexploded Ordinances (UXO) and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW). UXO remain a serious problem in Darfur, with many areas of the remote region littered with ordinances as a result of the protracted conflict between rebels, government forces and allied militiamen. UXO and ERW obstruct delivery of aid, hinder the return of refugees, and prevent farmers from cultivating the land. Since January 2011 UNAMID Ordinance Disposal Office has destroyed a total of 559 UXO and ERW. However, this accomplishment and future successes are continually undermined by the fluid and unstable security situation in Darfur, where contamination by rebels occurs at a rate almost equal to decontamination, preventing ordinance removal teams from entering highly contaminated areas.

*Updated March 2012