Darfur peace-mission most expensive in the world, says UN Envoy

Abuja – The peace-mission operation in the Darfur region costs the AU-UN Mission in Dafur (UNAMID) $1.9 billion annually, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy has disclosed.

The  Darfur guerrilla conflict began in 2003 in the Darfur, a western region of Sudan, home to racially mixed tribes of settled peasants demanding greater autonomy and better governance.

Gambari who spoke against the backdrop of the relevance of UNAMID’s mandate, said  in Abuja on Sunday that the mission was the most expensive in the world, with almost 92 per cent deployment of its military component.

He said when the mission would have 26,000 troops, 3,000 police and others as civilians, when fully deployed.

“We will have a total of  31,000;  that is already the biggest internationally peace-keeping mission in the world, and at about 1.9 billion US dollars spent annually, is the most expensive.

“So I think because of that deployment  and expenses, it is important to make the mandate work,’’ Gambari said.

The mandate of UNAMID includes the protection of civilians, and particularly the 1.7 million internally displaced persons, the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the promotion of peace agreement.

The envoy who expressed the determination of UNAMID to succeed in spite of inadequate logistics, said  the mandate of the mission remained relevant.

“We do not need additional mandate, like in Iraq and Afghanistan , what we need is to strengthen the existing mandate’’.

Gambari, however, observed that the lack of equipment was hampering its operation.

“ We only have five attack helicopters, and we have no utility helicopter, we need about 32, because the  size of Darfur is  the same as the whole of France;  so our ability to respond to threat is hampered  by the fact that we don’t have enabler, because  this is what will enable us to be more proactive, so it is not the number of troops but the enablers we can be given,’’ he said.

He gave the assurance that UNAMID would remain in Darfur beyond July 9 date of independence for Southern Sudan, to achieve a comprehensive peace agreement involving all parties.

With 3,400 troops in Sudan, Nigeria is the largest single contributor to UN peace keeping in Africa.( NAN )