UNDP Confirms Support for Darfur Regional Authority

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El Fashir – Director of the UN Development Program (UNDP) in Sudan Ali Al-Zaatari stressed the United Nations' commitment to provide humanitarian assistance in Darfur and establish political and practical cooperation with Regional Authority for Darfur and work to ensure the DDPD's success.

After his meeting with President of the Regional Authority for Darfur Dr. Al-Tijani Al-Sisi, Al-Zaatari said they are committed to providing technical assistance to the authority and participating in the joint assessment mission.

The officials discussed joint projects which will contribute to the enforcement of DDPD, general development issues in Darfur, and ongoing preparations for the donor conference in the Qatari capital of Doha in December.

Deutsche Welle: Has the UN mission in Darfur failed?

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On July 31, 2007 the United Nations Security Council decided to send peacekeepers to Darfur. Five years on, analysts say the mission failed to meet its objectives as the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. 

The conflict in Sudan's Darfur region has been going on for nine years. When it began, pictures of Janjaweed armed militias on camels hunting down opponents and civilians were to be seen in papers and newscasts worldwide People were outraged by the pictures but no concrete action was taken until late 2007. This was the time when 20,000 UN peacekeeping troops were deployed in Darfur after the United Nations learned that the conflict had left 300,000 people dead.

But since then,the situation hasn't improved, says Anne Bartlett, a sociology professor at the University of Chicago who has been following the Darfur conflict for years. She is the head of an NGO that promotes sustainable development in Darfur. She has also worked as a UN negotiator.

Numerous rebel groups in Darfur have different interests and ideologies

"The peacekeeping mission failed to reach the intended goal of protecting the people," Bartlett criticized. She argues that the United Nations should increase its forces.

"For safety reasons, most of the aid agencies have pulled out of Darfur. There is almost no humanitarian provision and there is very little protection. The situation has considerably deteriorated, in my opinion," Barlett told DW.

Many actors, many fronts

The situation in Darfur is complex. Initially, rebel groups fought for a greater voice against the Sudanese government and the militias it financed. But today there are several other fronts. Rebel groups fight the government but also each other. Groups with different ethnic backgrounds fight for territory and political influence. Farmers and nomads fight over resources and criminal gangs also operate in Darfur.

Anne Bartlett says the UN mission failed to protect the people

Experts criticise the Sudanese government for sabotaging the peace building process. They believe that the ruling government is reluctant to give up power.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against President Omar al-Bashir, on charges of genocide in Darfur. The Sudanese foreign minister's state secretary, Rahmat Allah Mohammad Othman, believes that the accusation is politically motivated and denies claims that the humanitarian situation in Darfur has deteriorated.

"I myself was in Darfur two weeks ago. No one complained about the humanitarian situation," Othman told DW. "Maybe they are confusing Darfur with other countries or another part of Sudan."

Tough peace negotiations

Othman also dismisses claims that Sudan still supplies arms to Darfur despite a UN embargo. In an exclusive interview with DW, the UN Special Representative and Chief of Mission in Darfur, Ibrahim Gambari,said, " obviously there are weapons , when there is fighting between the government and armed groups."

Gambari has considerable experience in how to talk to an autocratic leader. He has worked for Nigerian President Abacha and was a guest at the wedding of Chadian President Deby. As a United Nations negotiator, he negotiated for the UN with Zimbabwe's President Mugabe and Burma's former head of state Shwe.

Ibrahim Gambari is the UN Special Representative and Chief of Mission in Darfur

A prerequisite for a successful peace agreement is the cessation of hostilities.
"The only way to reach a comprehensive and a conclusive peace agreement is to commit the government and the armed movements in the cession of hostilities and cease fire," Gambari said.

UN troops should be reduced

The peace negotiations between rebel groups and the government have proven to be extremely complicated. On the rebel side, several groups have different interests and ideologies. In 2011, a peace agreement was signed – but only by one rebel group and the government. Ibrahim Gambari, however, is convinced that the United Nations will continue its negotiating efforts and extend its mandate for another year.

But he does not agree with increasing the numbers of UN personnel in Darfur. "The security situation has improved in many parts of Darfur, " said Gambari. "We can therefore reduce the number of troops, without undermining the gain that we have made in contributing to security stability in Darfur."

In the meantime the UN Security Council has extended for a year the mandate of the UN and African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. It also reduced the forces from 22,445 personnel to about 16,000.

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UN Peacekeeping corruption: Nepal vows to punish the corrupt in U.N. defence deal

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NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - Nepal plans to crack down on officials linked to allegations of corruption in the procurement of military hardware, after the United Nations discovered Nepali peacekeepers in Sudan had sub-standard equipment, officials said.

Nepal has 140 police officers serving as part of the 22,000-strong United Nations-African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) – deployed to stem years of violence in western Sudan between government forces and rebels.

Shankar Pokharel, Nepal's information minister, said a government probe last month found that up to 300 million rupees (about $4 million) had been embezzled during the procurement of armoured vehicles to supply to Nepali blue helmets in Darfur.

"The investigation found that the armoured personnel carriers (APCs) bought in 2009 were poor quality and had parts missing and were also quite old. They were bought at much cheaper prices and the remaining funds were siphoned off," he said in a telephone interview.

"The government is committed to punishing those responsible and has now set up a panel to recommend what action to take against those who are allegedly responsible for the scam."

ASKED TO LEAVE?

The government became aware of the incident in 2009 after the U.N. reported that the armoured vehicles sent by Nepal were unsafe and did not meet U.N. specifications.

A Nepali parliamentary team was then sent to the troubled Darfur region in April last year which confirmed the vehicles were unsafe and a probe was established to examine the procurement process.

There have been media reports that the U.N. has repeatedly asked Kathmandu to replace the equipment or risk being pulled out of the peacekeeping mission and repatriated.

But U.N. officials have dismissed this, saying that while the APCs "did not meet the U.N. requirements to fulfil their mandated tasks" and were being sent back to Nepal, there was no question of repatriation of the country's peacekeepers.

The United Nations is not currently considering repatriation of any of its FPUs (Formed Police Units) currently serving in peacekeeping operations," Nick Birnback, chief of public affairs for the U.N. department of peacekeeping operations, told TrustLaw.

“The (Nepali) unit is currently fully operational using U.N.-owned equipment," said Birnback, adding that "the Nepali authorities have committed to replacing the vehicles as a matter of priority".

U.S. Supports UN's Offer of Darfur Post to Gambari Despite NGOs' Questions

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 30 -- On making the new UN envoy to Darfur the Nigerian Ibrahim Gambari, previously UN envoy to Myanmar, it appears the fix is in. Even the U.S., said to have wanted a more strident human rights voice for the post, has reportedly given in. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, asked Monday about Gambari to Darfur, said "we support the Secretary General."

Following Inner City Press' exclusive report earlier on Monday that Gambari had been offered the post by the UNand African Union, Inner City Press received confirmation that Gambari has already been requesting commitments to come serve with him in Dar fur.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, as he greeted Inner City Press, was told that iot had already published the Gambari to Darfur story. His reaction was, "How did you know?"

A top UN peacekeeping official said that the offer had been made - and Gambari has already started hiring -- but it "remains to be signed."

The UN Security Council is required to sign off on the appointment. Because the U.S., France and UK had opposed Rodolphe Adada's "soft" line on Khartoum in a closed door lunch with Ban Ki-moon, many including U.S.-based NGOs had assumed the U.S. would use its leverage at the UN to get a a stronger voice, less "aligned with dictators" as one NGO put it, to head the Darfur mission.

Susan Rice and team at stakeout, Gambari to Darfur not shown

Inner City Press sought to ask questions of Susan Rice at her rare stakeout session on Monday, but was not given the microphone by her spokesman. Later, Inner City Press posed to the spokesman four questions in writing, including a request to comment on Gambari to Darfur. By 7 p.m. no comment had been received.

Inner City Press asked Susan Rice for her and the U.S. Mission's view of Gambari to Darfur. "We support the Secretary General," she said. Since his Office has confirmed the job offer to Gambari, this means that Ms. Rice and the U.S. support Gambari, despite reservations being expressed by the Darfur focused NGOs which supported Barrack Obama. Watch this space.