Blue helmets with UN-African force in Darfur turn to music, reading as peace tools

The joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur has helped local civil society groups collect thousands of books through a music festival designed to highlight Sudanese culture and its role in maintaining peace in the war-torn area.

“The arts can play a crucial role, especially at this time in Darfur's history,” said Paul Ebikwo, a regional representative of the UN mission, known by its acronym UNAMID, which was set up by the UN Security Council to protect civilians and quell the violence in Darfur.

Nearly seven years of fighting in the area killed some 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million others, some who are staying at the UN Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in the southern town of Nyala, where the concert was held.

The musical headliner at the Elbiheir Theater, where patrons sat yesterday on plastic chairs under the stars, was “Igd Algalad” a Khartoum-based group with roots in traditional Sudanese folk songs.

In a twist to a typical concert, the “We Read for the Recovery of Darfur” event asked audience members to contribute books instead of tickets.

The performances drew crowds of people, including youth and state officials. The exact number of books has yet to be counted, but a similar event a few months ago raised some 9,000 books.

Organizers, who are members of the Afia Sudan Voluntary Organization, said the concert is part of a series of events aimed at collecting one million books for distribution throughout Darfur's universities and public libraries in the main cities.

A similar event is soon anticipated for El Fasher, North Darfur.