The international community must move swiftly to protect the people of Darfur, says the ENOUGH Project in a strategy briefing released today.
While global actors must continue to press for civilian protection, promote a durable peace and punish the perpetrators of atrocities in Darfur, ENOUGH co-chair and briefing author Gayle Smith hones in on the peacekeeping component.
Smith asserts that six elements are essential to an effective AU/UN hybrid peacekeeping force:
1. a civilian protection mandate;
2. UN management of the mission;
3. manpower drawn from throughout the world, not just Africa;
4. logistical and air support for greater mobility;
5. a methodology that includes robust civilian and political elements; and
6. money to sustain the AU force and fully fund the hybrid AU/UN force.
“Absent any one of these six critical components – mandate, management, manpower, mobility, methodology and money – the hybrid peacekeeping mission is unlikely to adequately protect civilians,” says Smith.
The briefing also calls for simultaneous efforts to protect vulnerable civilians in eastern Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), where spillover from the conflict has exacerbated mounting instability and insecurity.
Regional protection efforts should include deployment of military forces by the Chadian government to protect at risk populations in the east; agreement at the UN Security Council on the size and mandate of a protection force for eastern Chad and northeastern CAR; establishment of a coordinating mechanism between the two deployments; and commencement of credible, internationally-supported political dialogue with armed opposition groups and civil society organizations in both countries.
The other two prongs of ENOUGH’s “3P” approach are also addressed: the need for a robust effort to secure a viable, lasting peace agreement, and the critical role that multilateral punitive measures can play in holding Khartoum to its word.
“If and when the Sudanese regime obstructs the implementation of any of these prerequisites for a successful mission,” says ENOUGH co-chair John Prendergast, “the UN Security Council should quickly pass a resolution with teeth that imposes real punitive measures on responsible officials and the businesses they own.”
To read “Peacekeeping for Protection and Peace in Darfur,” go to www.enoughproject.org.
ENOUGH is an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity.