UN's Pronk says UN should finance AU force in Darfur

Photo: The U.N. Secretary General's former representative in Sudan, Jan Pronk, gestures during a lecture at the Institute for Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands, on Tuesday Jan. 30, 2007 (Peter Dejong/AP Photo)

I say, Jan Pronk deserves a medal for his efforts on behalf of the UN and people of Sudan. See AP report by Alfred de Montesquiou, 30 Jan 2007 - Sudan pushes aid groups to breaking point (via G&M) - excerpt:

Jan Pronk, a former U.N. envoy to Darfur, said Tuesday the world body should rethink its global peacekeeping operations and finance more missions by local or regional peace troops.

Mr. Pronk said in a lecture at the Netherlands' Institute of Social Studies that the U.N. could use the money it would spend on its own peacekeeping operation to finance another military force to carry out the task, such as the African Union in Darfur.

"They have good troops," he said, many of them with experience in U.N. peace missions to Bosnia or elsewhere. "I'm very positive about the African Union in Darfur."

Mr Pronk's suggestion seems the best and only real way forward, quick too. What's wrong with the UN funding AMIS and providing equipment, training and advice? Anarchy needs quelling before refugees can return home.



Sudan has existed since the year dot but these days does not have time on its side. Scientists say Sudan's increasing water shortages and climate change will, within a decade or two, make water more important than oil. Millions of poverty stricken people in other countries - where far worse things are happening (ie northern Uganda) - desperately need help. Sudan needs to grow and farm a lot more food. The fantastic Chinese backed Merowe Dam, expected to be completed in a few years time, is being built in northern Sudan (more on this later as I check on some facts).