Deteriorating security, harsh conditions and other obstacles in Darfur have considerably slowed the deployment of the UN-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) in the Sudanese region.
This was the message conveyed by UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno in his briefing to the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
When fully operational, UNAMID, authorized by the UN Security Council in July, 2007, will become the largest peacekeeping force in the world, with almost 26,000 troops and police officers and nearly 5,000 civilian staff.
At the beginning of this year, the joint force took over from the ill-equipped and undermanned AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) but has since faced various challenges in its own deployment.
INCREASE OF VIOLENCE
In presenting the monthly report of UN chief Ban Ki-moon on the hybrid force, the undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations expressed concern about the increase of violence in Darfur.
He said in the last six weeks alone, there has been fighting between the rebel movements and the Sudanese government forces as well as between factions of the rebel movements in both South and North Darfur.
"These engagements have included aerial bombardments on rebel positions, including on villages occupied by civilians. Taken with the increasingly volatile situation on the Chad-Sudan border and the increased banditry targeting UN assets, the security situation in Darfur is deteriorating at an alarming rate," he said.
A major obstacle to the success of the mission remained the lack of progress on the political front, he said.
"The situation in Darfur has grown infinitely more complex and the prospects for peace seem more remote," he said.
The parties were still not demonstrating the political will to abandon the military option, engage in negotiations or fully cooperate with UNAMID and the humanitarian community.
The situation called for a redoubling of efforts to bring the parties to the negotiating table and, in the meantime, deployment of a peacekeeping operation capable of making a positive contribution, he said.
HYBRID FORCE NEEDS BEEFING UP
"UNAMID is increasing its activities with each passing month, but still needs to be strengthened considerably before it will be able to implement its mandate," Guehenno said.
To that end, he said, Assistant Secretary-General Jane Holl Lute and a supporting technical team had visited the region to develop, with UNAMID leadership, an enhanced plan aimed at maximizing deployment of military and police personnel by the end of 2008.
If that plan was fully implemented, UNAMID could be at 80percent of its authorized strength by the end of the year, he said.
To reach those targets, a wide range of units would have to be deployed before the rainy season in a specific order, starting with key enabling units, such as engineer, transportation, logistic and medical groups.
He said one of the central requirements for the success of the enhanced deployment plan was a significant strengthening of the mission's engineering capacity.
Guehenno also called for the "crucial" support from the Sudanese government in providing security along the mission pipeline and urged assistance from troop contributors, especially the provision of critical air assets which the mission was still missing.
Source:Xinhua
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