The African Union met Thursday to encourage member states to put more troops into the Darfur peacekeeping mission approved by the United Nations Security Council. Ambassadors to the pan-African body gathered at its Addis Ababa headquarters to discuss the force, which faces the daunting task of stabilising the war-torn western Sudanese region.
Despite pressure for Sudan to accept a force of 23 000 troops and police, a African Union committee has not approved plans sent by the United Nations. Sudan has been sent an copy of details drawn up recently but a submission cannot happen until the AU’s Peace and Security Committee gives its consent.
So, anyway, I was looking through various websites on the internet, trying to find some concrete information for a talk I had been invited to present on the occasion of the forty-fourth anniversary of Africa Day, May 25 2007. The sacred anniversary had originally been called ”Africa Freedom Day”, when it was dedicated as such at the launch of the then brand-new Organisation of African Unity in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on that date in 1963.
Some of its men have not been paid for four months and, with few helicopters or troop carriers, it has to rely on diplomacy to keep the peace, but the beleaguered African Union force in Darfur insists it is still making a difference. The force has paid a high price for its efforts to stem the violence in Darfur, which has killed at least 200Â 000 people.
It seems the African Union (AU) is repeating the ”sad past” of the old Organisation for African Unity, particularly with regard to Zimbabwe and Sudan, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has again outwitted President Thabo Mbeki, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the AU, DA foreign affairs spokesman Douglas Gibson said.
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/ 16 January 2006
More than 40 African non-governmental organisations have launched a bid to prevent Sudan from becoming the next chair of the African Union, claiming the move would jeopardise peacekeeping operations in the country’s troubled Darfur region.
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/ 15 November 2005
The head of a labour union confronting the Central African Republic government over its failure to pay its public servants was arrested on Monday over allegations he received ”unwarranted payments”, union officials said. The Central African Republic government, in serious financial straits, is unable to pay its 20Â 000 public servants.
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/ 21 October 2005
The African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) on Thursday extended by three months the mandate of its protection force in Sudan’s war-ravaged region of Darfur amid escalating violence. The PSC adopted the decision to renew the mandate of its African Union Mission in Sudan until January 20, 2006.
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/ 15 September 2005
African Union officials were to launch a final round of peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday to bring an end to slaughter and starvation in the war-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur. AU mediator Sam Ibok told Agence France Presse that the opening ceremony would be held at around 6pm (5pm GMT) but could not confirm whether all the delegates had arrived.
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/ 13 September 2005
Civil society, business, labour and political parties are set to participate in South Africa’s evaluation under the African Peer Review Mechanism. Representatives of various sectors of society met in Pretoria on Tuesday to discuss their role in the review, which is expected to cost the country about R8-million.