Story by Nehemia Owusu Achiaw
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| President J. A Kufuor |
African Union chairman, President J.A Kufuor, has asked the Security Council of the United Nations to show equal commitment to the protracted conflict in Somalia as it has so far done towards the war-wrecked Sudan region of Darfur.
Addressing the Security Council in New York, President Kufuor said in spite of the initiative of the AU to mobilise troops from among its member countries to keep the peace in the volatile area of Somalia and the readiness of countries like Ghana to contribute, promises by the international community to provide support towards the initiative had been inadequate and slow in coming.
“The Security Council must therefore step in with timeous assistance,” he told the council meeting attended by all 15 members including the US President George Bush as well as the Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and AU Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konaré.
“The Security Council must also consider a contingency plan for the possible deployment of UN Force to replace the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), he added.
The meeting convened by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, which holds this month's Council presidency discussed how to improve peace and security in Africa which is confronted with some conflicts and crises.
On proposed talks on Darfur in Libya in October, 2007, President Kufuor expressed the hope that all the factions would accept to participate in the talks and urged them to resolve outstanding issues to clear the way for the deployment of the UN-AU joint force to secure peace in Darfur.
At the end of its deliberations the Security Council resolved to establish United Nations-mandated, multidimensional presence, which will include European Union military forces, in eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic (CAR) to help protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid to thousands of people displaced by the conflict in the region.
The UN Force to be headquartered in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, will include a UN Mission — to be known by its acronym MINURCAT — with civilian staff, focusing on the areas of civil affairs, human rights, the rule of law and mission support.
In the resolution passed unanimously at the end of the meeting, the Council also endorsed the establishment of a new unit of Chad’s police to maintain law and order in refugee camps and areas with large numbers of displaced civilians in the eastern part of the country.
According to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on the situation in Chad and the CAR, the humanitarian situation “has shown no signs of improving” since February, with more than 400,000 refugees and as internally displaced persons (IDPs) a result of the fighting.
Already, the Council had authorised the deployment of a 26,000-strong joint UN-African Union force (to be known as UNAMID) to reduce the spate of violence in Darfur, which had had a spillover effect on the region.
Source: Modern Ghana, Sept 28, 2007