Darfur: Security Council extends African Union-UN mission for 10 more months

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) until 30 June 2015, while requesting the peacekeeping mission to focus on strategic priorities such as the improved protection of civilians and humanitarian workers, along with the facilitation of aid and mediation activities.

Earlier this year, the Council had endorsed the revised priorities for the mission outlined by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a special report following an inter-agency review of its work, its much-changed operating environment and its efforts to achieve its mandate.

In today’s unanimously adopted resolution, the Council requested that UNAMID “continue to align all its activity and direct the use of its resources to the achievement of these priorities…”

Established by the Council in 2007, UNAMID has the protection of civilians as its core mandate, but is also tasked with contributing to security for humanitarian assistance, monitoring and verifying implementation of agreements, and assisting an inclusive political process aimed at ending the conflict that erupted in the Darfur region of Sudan over 10 years ago.

It is also tasked with contributing to the promotion of human rights and the rule of law, and monitoring and reporting on the situation along the borders with Chad and the Central African Republic.

“The resolution prioritizes protection of civilians and humanitarian efforts in UNAMID’s work and requests enhanced human rights reporting from the Mission,” Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant of the United Kingdom, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council for this month, told reporters.

“The resolution,” he added, “requests comprehensive and wide-ranging recommendations on the future mandate, configuration, composition, and exit strategy of UNAMID for next February, and expresses the Council’s clear intention to take prompt action on those recommendations.

“And we want to use this opportunity to make any necessary changes to improve the working of UNAMID.”