Sudan: Second group of UN military staff officers heads to Darfur on Monday

The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) today announced plans to deploy a second group of 10 military staff officers to Darfur to support the African Union Mission (AMIS) in the troubled region.

The new batch, set to leave on Monday, comes in addition to the 17 UN military staff officers and 19 UN police advisers who are already in Darfur as part of a light support package for the thinly stretched AMIS, which has been struggling to monitor the vast region – roughly the size of France – where over 200,000 people have been killed since 2003 and more than ten times that amount displaced by conflict.

Under the $21 million light support package, UNMIS is providing 105 military staff officers, 33 police advisers and 48 civilian staff as well as equipment and supplies to the African peacekeepers. It is part of a phased approach that ultimately aims for the establishment of a hybrid AU-UN force of 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers.

The announcement of tomorrow's deployment came following a meeting in Khartoum of the Tripartite Mechanism, which is made up of representatives of AMIS, UNMIS, and the Government of Sudan. The next meeting is scheduled for 24 January.