High Level meeting on Darfur

21 September 2007

Joint African Union United Nations Press Communiqué

The African Union Chairperson and the United Nations Secretary-General chaired a high-level meeting on the crisis in Darfur this afternoon on 21 September 2007.

Representatives from 26 States attended, including Sudan, the permanent members of the Security Council, members of the AU Peace and Security Council and countries from the region. High-level officials from the European Union and the League of Arab States also attended. The meeting was a powerful illustration of the international community's commitment to work with the Sudanese to achieve peace in Darfur. The meeting also reflected AU-UN commitment to working closely together to address the crisis.

The objective of the meeting was to mobilize support for international community's three track approach to Darfur: securing a political solution, deploying the AU-UN peacekeeping operation, and providing humanitarian and recovery assistance to civilians affected by the conflict.

On the political track, the African Union and the United Nations urged all parties to join in the political process and prepare themselves for the negotiations which are due to begin on 27 October in Libya. Participants confirmed their support for the talks and expressed strong expectations that the negotiations would be inclusive and decisive, stressing that the parties should seize this unique opportunity to resolve the conflict. The Secretary-General also announced the creation of a Trust Fund to provide financial support for the talks.

On peacekeeping, the African Union and the United Nations appealed for support in their efforts to ensure deployment of a force that would be able to effectively fulfill its mandate and which would have an immediate positive impact in Darfur, while reiterating their commitment to ensuring the predominantly African character of the joint AU-UN operation. The two Organizations called upon member states to make pledges to this effect so that force generation and deployment benchmarks set by the Security Council could be met. They also emphasized the critical importance of receiving sustained support from the Government of Sudan on operational issues, including land for the building of UNAMID camps, provision of airport landing rights for heavy aircraft, clearance for night flights, an agreement to drill for water, and full freedom of movement for the operation.

At the same time, the AU and the UN expressed concern about the level of violence, the continuing fragmentation of the non-signatory movements, and the deterioration in the humanitarian situation. They called on all parties to exercise full restraint, abide by previous commitments, and cease all hostilities in the lead up to political negotiations. They stressed in that regard the importance of establishing an effective ceasefire monitoring mechanism.

The meeting also provided a valuable reminder that peace in all of Sudan depended on continued efforts to implement the agreement between the North and the South – the CPA.

United Nations Headquarters
New York – 21 September 2007