Important meetings on Darfur at the African Union
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, April 16, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, today, received Mr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Joint AU-UN Special Representative for Darfur and Head of the AU-UN Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), who has just resumed duties.
The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views on the situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan and ways and means of further assisting the Sudanese stakeholders in achieving the objectives of lasting peace, security, stability and reconciliation in the region. In this regard, the Chairperson of the Commission noted with satisfaction the signing, on 6 April 2013, of an agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Justice and Equality Movement-Sudan, under the framework of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD). She also welcomed the successful convening of the Doha Donors' Conference, from 7 to 9 April 2013, which made it possible to mobilize substantial resources for reconstruction and peace building in Darfur over the next five years.
At the same time, the Chairperson of the Commission noted with concern the recent clashes in some parts of Darfur and its humanitarian consequences. They called on all armed movements that have not yet done so to join the peace process without any further delay in the interest of the people of Darfur.
The Chairperson of the Commission seized the opportunity to reiterate the AU's support to the Joint Special Representative and its determination to fully assume its responsibilities within UNAMID. She also stressed the AU's commitment to continue supporting, in particular through the AU High-Level Implementation Panel, the overall efforts to promote peace, security and stability in the Sudan. She called on all AU Member States and partners to lend the necessary support to this end.
The Joint Special Representative was also received by the Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra, with whom he exchanged on the situation in Darfur and the operations of UNAMID. Furthermore, the Joint Special Representative participated, for the first time, in the meeting of the Tripartite Coordination Mechanism for UNAMID, which took place today, at the AU Headquarters, in Addis Ababa, and brought together representatives of the AU, the UN, UNAMID and the Government of Sudan. The meeting was co-chaired by Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Field Support, Anthony Banbury, and Ambassador Rahmatalla Mohamed Osman, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Sudan.