PRESS RELEASE 18
Addis Ababa, 19 January 2009 - The African Union Commission, the United Nations and the Government of Sudan (GoS) met today at African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to conduct the third meeting of the Tripartite coordinating mechanism on UNAMID. The meeting addressed key issues relating to the deployment of the United Nations-AU Mission for Darfur (UNAMID) and to plan ahead in the spirit of partnership and identity of purpose that had marked their previous meetings.
UN Under-Secretary- General for Department of Field Support, Susana Malcorra, confirmed that UNAMID had successfully achieved a 60% deployment of troops by the end of December 2008, a figure which gives rise to the hope that a dynamic of enhancing UNAMID effectiveness is well underway.
Ms Malcorra, ascribing this achievement to the spirit of engagement of all parties involved, underlined that deployment of an adequate number of troops was only a prelude to the main task of bringing peace and Security to Darfur.
Dr. Saddiq Mutrif, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Sudan stated that the Tripartite arrangement that involved the three partners has proved to be immensely useful to enhance cooperation and decision making. He too underlined that the ultimate success was peace and stability in Darfur.
In the pursuit of peace, he said, dialogue between the Sudanese themselves was paramount. In this regard the Government spares no effort to lay the groundwork for dialogue, and condemns elements who engage in violence.
In his welcoming address, Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra, African Union Commissioner for peace and security defined work of the tripartite mechanism as very satisfactory. He added that it reflects the high priority given to a complex and difficult peacekeeping mission such as UNAMID. Commissioner Lamamra recalled and emphasized the importance of a political process coupled to peace keeping mission in order to build sustainable peace in Sudan and for all the Sudanese. In this framework, the AU will not stop advocating for the strengthening of the cooperation between the Government of Sudan and the AU-UN whatever the impact of external factors could be.
At the end of the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on air operations was signed by GoS and UNAMID. This achievement is meant to enable UNAMID to make a more effective use of Sudanese airport infrastructure in order to speed up the deployment process.
UNAMID was represented by the Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, Mr Hocine Medili, Force Commander General Martin Luther Agwai and Police Commissioner Michael Fryer.
It is worth recalling that the establishment of the tripartite mechanism has been decided on by the three Parties following consultations on the sidelines of the AU last summit in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, to review deployment of the hybrid force, and to find practical solutions to the challenges facing the operation. First and second Tripartite meetings have been held respectively in October and November 2008 in Khartoum, Sudan.