Register Online: ISS Seminar: The AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur: Understanding the Mechanism and the Pitfalls and Challenges to a Bold Strategy
Date: 2007-10-05 to Invalid date
Register Online: ISS Seminar: The AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur: Understanding the Mechanism and the Pitfalls and Challenges to a Bold Strategy
Pretoria, 5 October 2007
The seminar is organised under the auspices of the Training for Peace (TfP) Programme in Africa
After four years of a devastating conflict and the intervention by the AU Mission in Darfur (AMIS), the UN Security Council eventually gained sufficient consensus to mandate the deployment of an AU-UN force.
It is arguable that the accomplishment of the AMIS mandate proved unachievable owing to the weakness of its mandate and the paucity of AMIS’s capabilities, vis-à-vis the failure of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement of 2004 and the collapse of the Darfur Peace Agreement of May 2006 which, to start with, was not comprehensive.
In light of these realities and in the face of the worsening humanitarian situation, the Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, passed Resolution 1769 (2007) on 31 July 2007, to authorise the deployment of a 26-000 strong AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).
However, short of Chapter VII enforcement action, is the Security Council resolution a ‘victory for Sudanese diplomacy’ as claimed by Sudan itself? There is no doubt that many more questions will continue to be asked, such as: what is the rationale in ‘[preserving] the African character of the operation’; is the UNAMID mandate and deployment, which will be backstopped by the heavy support package of the UN, a second best option; will the operation be able and willing to give credence to its chapter VII protection mandate, by demonstrating the will to use force for its own protection and the protection of the vulnerable civilian population, in accomplishing its mandate; and how will the operation be able to do this on the ground?
The seminar will seek to provide a platform for an examination of these crucial questions, and aims to provide deep insights into the peacekeeping dynamics of the conflict in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.
Speaker: Major General (Rtd) Henry K. Anyidoho: formerly of the Ghana Armed Forces, and a former deputy commander of the UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR). Major General Anyidoho is currently the Deputy Joint Special Representative Designate for UNAMID.
Date: Friday, 5 October 2007
Time: 09:30 – 11:30 (preceded by tea)
Place: ISS Conference Room
RSVP: Ms Nosipho Ndlazulwana;
Email: [email protected];
Tel: (012) 346-9500; fax: (012) 460-0997 / 8
