From Africa Recovery, Vol.14#3 (October 2000), Watch page

HORN OF AFRICA
More UN peacekeepers

Just a week after the Security Council held a rare summit meeting on Africa (see cover story), it approved a major new mission, authorizing on 15 September the deployment of up to 4,200 troops to monitor the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The action follows an 18 June cease-fire agreement that ended a two-year border war. The agreement, which calls for a demilitarized zone 25 kilometres wide and final demarcation of the disputed border, was reached under the auspices of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, then president of the Organization of African Unity. The effort was assisted by the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Africa Mohamad Sahnoun, among others.

The Security Council first established the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) on 31 July, at the time authorizing up to 100 military observers. Humanitarian agencies put the number of civilians affected by the conflict at over 700,000. Their plight has been exacerbated by a regional drought that has left 8 million people at risk of hunger.

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