MILITARY CHIEFS OF UN PEACEKEEPING FORCES IN AFRICA CALL FOR MORE TROOPS, EQUIPMENT

The military chiefs of the United Nations' largest and most complex peacekeeping operations urged Member States today to provide the troops and equipment necessary to carry out their missions in the war-ravaged regions of Darfur in western Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

"We have had a challenging time to meet all our mandated tasks because of the issue of deployment and lack of capabilities," General Martin Luther Agwai, Force Commander of the joint African Union-UN mission in Darfur (UNAMID), told reporters in New York.

The Security Council authorized the deployment of UNAMID to quell fighting and protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and some 2.7 million others forced from their homes since fighting erupted in 2003, pitting Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen against rebel groups.

UNAMID has stabilized the situation in Darfur, despite having less than 70 per cent of the authorized number of troops under the 2007 Security Council resolution setting up the force, said Gen. Agwai.

In addition, "we have been able to be one of the best sources of authenticated information of what is happening in Darfur," he said. "We have come a long way, but there are still a lot of challenges, no doubt about it."

At current strength UNAMID is unable to provide full-time security to all of the makeshift camps sheltering the millions of people who have fled the violence engulfing the region over the years.

"We have not been able to have a 24/7 protection coverage in most of the IDP [internally displaced persons] camps," said Gen. Agwai. "We have prioritized the most vulnerable and volatile camps."

He noted that some of the IDP camps have 90,000 to 100,000 people taking refuge in tents and makeshift shelters.

"The bigger the camps the more volatile and problematic they are and those are the ones with a 24/7 UNAMID presence," he said, including patrols that protect women when out collecting firewood.

With full deployment the mission would be more mobile and have a further reach, "instead of [looking like] very small ink spots on blotting paper. [We currently have] 32 spots, but we're beginning to expand and spread."

Gen. Agwai expected 92 per cent deployment by the end of the year, but stressed that there is little "point having boots without capabilities. Ethiopia has now pledged five [attack] helicopters to the mission … [but] to the best of my knowledge nobody has pledged one utility helicopter to the mission."

As a sign of UNAMID contributing to an increasing sense of security in the region, Gen. Agwai said that the incidence of rapes and assaults has been cut. "The number of people dying because of the crisis is down. The figure is now ranging from about 120 to 150 deaths in a month and not hundreds or thousands in a month as in the past."

The UN peacekeeping mission in DRC, known as MONUC, is effectively engaged in three separate military operations, said the operations Force Commander, Lieutenant-General Babacar Gaye.

MONUC is supporting the Congolese army (FARDC) in an offensive against the notorious Ugandan rebel militia, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on one front; a group of remnant armed groups in Ituri province in northeastern DRC; and a Rwandan rebel force, known as the FDLR, in North and South Kivu.

"Our mission is so far the largest peacekeeping mission deployed around the world and we are facing all the challenges that peacekeeping have to face today," Lt.-Gen. Gaye told the press briefing. "This means the use of force, the protection of civilians and so on and so forth."

The latest bout of fighting between DRC troops and the rebel FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) and their local allies uprooted a further 35,000 people in South Kivu last month, bringing the total displaced there since January to 536,000, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). More than 1.8 million people are now internally displaced in the DRC's east.

Lt.-Gen. Gaye stressed the drastic need for extra troops on the ground to implement MONUC's protection mandate. "Everything is on track but unfortunately the first boots are still expected."

He said that MONUC is slated to soon receive a Bangladeshi battalion, an Egyptian battalion, a Jordanian special force company, an Egyptian special force company and a Bangladeshi engineer company.

"Unfortunately, we are yet to have the 18 helicopters that have been authorized by the [Security] Council," he added.
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AU-UN PEACEKEEPERS AIRLIFT EXAM PAPERS TO SCHOOL STUDENTS IN DARFUR

AU-UN PEACEKEEPERS AIRLIFT EXAM PAPERS TO SCHOOL STUDENTS IN DARFUR
New York, Mar 26 2009 2:00PM

The joint United Nations-African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID, today helped airlift examination materials to remote secondary schools in the war-torn western region of Sudan.

The blue helmets flew three helicopters across North Darfur to distribute exam papers to nine locations across the state, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York.

This is the second such operation UNAMID has conducted for the 2009 certificate examinations, which are held throughout Sudan and slated to start on 30 March, she said.

Elsewhere, the hybrid peacekeeping force has recently characterized the current security situation in Darfur as relatively calm apart from a few incidents of banditry. In the past few weeks, UNAMID has reported a rise in attacks on peacekeeping staff, carjacking, other banditry, and harassment of civilians in Darfur.

There has also been concern over the safety of humanitarian workers, many of whom have been ordered to leave the region following the indictment last month of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.

An estimated 300,000 people have died and another 3 million have been displaced in Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.
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ARSON ATTACK KILLS TWO AT DARFUR CAMP, SAY UN-AFRICAN UNION PEACEKEEPERS

A group of armed men set fire to a makeshift camp in war-ravaged Darfur, killing two people and destroying hundreds of shelters, the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in the western region of Sudan (UNAMID) reported today.

Residents from the camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) near the West Darfur state capital El Geneina told a UNAMID military and police unit that they witnessed four men, two in uniform, enter the camp, start the fire and run out soon after midnight.

Strong winds swept the blaze through the Abu Zar camp, leaving one female IDP dead at the scene and killing a 22 year-old man after he was rushed to hospital. Another three IDPs remain seriously injured and are receiving medical treatment at El Geneina hospital.

Senior UNAMID military and police officials, speaking on behalf of the Mission, expressed their deep concern to the IDPs at Abu Zar following the incident.

The hybrid peacekeeping force noted that otherwise the security situation in the rest of Darfur remained relatively calm. UNAMID has reported a rise in attacks on peacekeeping staff, carjacking, other banditry, and harassment of civilians in Darfur in recent weeks.

There has also been concern over the safety of humanitarian workers, many of whom have been ordered to leave the region following the recent indictment of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.

UNAMID troops have conducted 19 confidence-building patrols, 11 escort patrols and one night patrol covering 21 villages and IDP camps within two of Darfur's three states, and its police force conducted 75 patrols.

An estimated 300,000 people have died and another 3 million have been displaced in Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.
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UN CONDEMNS FATAL AMBUSH OF DARFUR PEACEKEEPERS

UN CONDEMNS FATAL AMBUSH OF DARFUR PEACEKEEPERS
New York, Mar 17 2009 2:00PM

The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) condemned an ambush earlier today that led to the death of one blue helmet, the second such attack on peacekeepers in the strife-torn region of Sudan in a week.

"UNAMID strongly condemns these cowardly acts of violence against its peacekeepers and calls on all parties including the Government of Sudan to ensure the safety of UN personnel in the region," a UN spokesperson said in New York.

Approximately eight unknown gunmen opened fire on an escort patrol that was returning to its base in Nyala, South Darfur, wounding one peacekeeper as the blue helmets returned fire in self-defence, spokesperson Marie Okabe said.

The wounded soldier was immediately taken for medical treatment at the mission's hospital in Nyala and later died while being evacuated to Al Fasher for further medical treatment, according to UNAMID.

"These ongoing attacks against UNAMID peacekeepers will not dissuade us from pursuing our mandate in Darfur," AU-UN Joint Representative Rodolphe Adada said.

This is the second time in just over a week that UNAMID peacekeepers have been ambushed by unknown armed men while conducting their duties in Darfur, as concerns mount over the safety of humanitarian workers, many of whom have been ordered to leave the region following the recent indictment of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.

On 9 March four peacekeepers were shot and wounded in a patrol that was returning to its base in El Geneina, West Darfur, and, following that incident, a UN spokesperson said that the number of attacks against peacekeeping personnel and incidents of banditry in 2009 to that date had exceeded those for the entirety of 2008.

On the humanitarian front, the Secretary-General is continuing to make telephone calls to leaders in Africa and the Middle East to address the humanitarian situation in Darfur, according to Deputy Spokesperson Okabe.

Sudan decided to begin ejecting 13 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on 4 March, immediately after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Al-Bashir.

An estimated 300,000 people have died and another 3 million have been displaced in the western region of Sudan, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.
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Darfur: UN working to reverse expulsions while planning to fill vital aid gaps

The United Nation's top humanitarian official said today that the world organization continues to strive at all levels to reverse the ordered departure of 13 major aid groups from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.

At the same time planning is also on-going to cover gaps opened by the expulsions in live-saving assistance that 4.7 million Sudanese – including 2.7 million internally displaced persons – depend on, according to UN Humanitarian Coordinator John Holmes.

Sudan's decision to begin ejecting the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) came on Wednesday, immediately after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.

UN humanitarian agencies immediately warned that aid capability could be slashed by half, since the decision affected such major actors as Oxfam, Care International, International Rescue Committee and Save the Children, along with some 7,000 staff out of a total of some 14,000 in the troubled region.

"We have been in touch with the Government of Sudan, at many levels, and indeed with many other key players over the weekend," Mr. Holmes told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, adding that the NGOs had been advised to exercise their right of appeal against the decision.

He said that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been calling stakeholders and that possibilities include a conversation between him and Mr. Al-Bashir "at the right moment."

Neither the UN nor the Government, he warned, had the capacity to fill all the gaps left by the departing organizations, who worked in partnership with the world organization on the ground.

The most urgent short-term gaps were in the areas of water and sanitation and health services, and joint assessments would be pursued tomorrow with the Government to see how these holes could be filled in the short-term.

There were already concerns that a meningitis outbreak in Kalma Camp in South Darfur will spread if not addressed through immediate large-scale inoculation, he said.

Mr. Holmes added that he also remained concerned at the manner in which the Government's decision was being carried out, including intimidation of NGO staff members and the confiscation of property such as automobiles and computers, some of which belonged to the UN.

In one case, warehouses full of food supplied to the NGOs for distribution by the World Food Organization (WFP) were being held, he said.

"This is not in line with the agreement the agreements we have with the Government of Sudan, nor indeed with the any of the normal tenets of behaviour in these kinds of circumstances," he emphasized.

"We've taken up these issues very strongly with the Government and we hope this kind of behaviour will not stop, and that even if the decision itself is not reversed, which we certainly hope it will be," he said.

The UN system would support both the expelled groups and those who remained in every practical way, Mr. Holmes said.

"Not only are we trying to deal with the issue of those NGOs whose registrations have been revoked, but also with the NGOs who remain and are legitimately asking questions how long they will be able to remain and how far they will be able to operate in a normal and safe manner."

An estimated 300,000 people have died and another 3 million have been displaced in Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.
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Darfur Destroyed: Sudan's Perpetrators Break Silence

Darfur Destroyed: Sudan's perpetrators break silence from Aegis Trust on Vimeo.

DARFUR: AFTER LAST MONTH’S FLARE-UPS, RELATIVE CALM RETURNS, UN-AFRICAN MISSION SAYS

DARFUR: AFTER LAST MONTH'S FLARE-UPS, RELATIVE CALM RETURNS, UN-AFRICAN MISSION SAYS
New York, Feb 26 2009 6:00PM

The joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force Darfur (UNAMID) today reported that relative calm had returned to the war-ravaged western region of the Sudan although concern remained over continuing violence in some areas.

UNAMID noted that there had been reports of banditry in North Darfur, the state that recently witnessed an influx of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to its camps due to a fresh outburst of violence in South Darfur.

In South Darfur, where heavy fighting broke out last month between Government troops, other armed groups and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), locals have told UNAMID that armed militiamen continue to attack and harass civilians.

For its part, UNAMID said, its blue helmets continue to intensify their routine patrols as well as their investigations, their escort functions and their confidence-building measures throughout the area.

The hybrid force was set up by the Security Council to protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million have been forced from their homes since fighting erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen.

One year on from transferring the task of suppressing the violence to UNAMID from the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), some 12,753 blue helmets are now in place across the region, a little more than 60 per cent of the 19,555 military personnel authorized by the Security Council.
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