Originally published on the CGS blog on September 5, 2007.
The BBC is covering UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s important trip to Darfur/Sudan. The fact that he has taken the time to head to Darfur is a very good thing. Ban has been criticized in certain quarters for being a bit anonymous, a bit technocratic, and getting into the field will help him to allay those fears and become more comfortable with being a hands on UN SG.
Ban told Laura Trevelyan, the BBC reporter accompanying him that his priority is to get a 26,000-strong UN and African Union peacekeeping force into position. He visited Juba, the South Sudan capital, Juba, in support of the 2005 peace agreement and seems to want to parallel that effort in Darfur.
I am glad Ban has headed to Darfur – he needs to be focused and hands on to ensure that the force is deployed effectively and that there is a move towards a permanent peace; a peace that includes accountability for war crimes committed since the fighting began.
