Originally published on the CGS blog on July 17, 2007.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon meets with President Bush today to discuss (over the din of Iraq) the situation in Darfur. Mr. Ban has just returned from a trip to Afghanistan and Europe, during which he says Darfur topped the list of his talking points. Ban promises that Darfur will be his top priority in talks with Bush today.
A draft resolution to authorize the hybrid African Union – United Nations force (finally approved by Sudan last month – keep those fingers crossed and don’t hold your breath until we see the sun gleaming off those blue helmets on the ground) is currently making its way around the Security Council. Though the resolution calls for member states to finalize troop contributions for up to 26,000 in the next 90 days, sources have said that a hybrid force won’t be on the ground in Darfur until early 2008 at best. But Ban is pushing the timeline like never before, saying that the first troops could be sent by October:
“I think this is fast by UN standards but I want to move more rapidly. The political situation on the ground is too fragile, the humanitarian crisis too dire, to waste more precious time.”
All of a sudden we are seing a flurry action on Darfur. Peace talks in Tripoli, Ban’s diplomatic tour with Darfur talking points, vigorous debate on a Security Council resolution, the union of rebel groups – there’s even talk of a Security Council resolution to send peacekeepers to Chad.
Ban asked Bush in April to hold off on placing more sanctions on Sudan to allow more time for diplomacy – now it seems Ban is pushing the envelope to make sure those peackeepers are deployed. When Ban was sworn in as Secretary General in January, he said that ending the atrocities in Darfur and securing a robust protection force in the region was a top priority for his term. This indeed is Ban’s moment on Darfur — hopefully Bush and others will follow suit to finally see peacekeepers on the ground.
