Panafrican News Agency

Darfur UN peacekeepers hand over 11 sites to Sudan Government

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The United Nations-African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMD) has handed over 11 team sites across Sudan's Darfur region to the government of Sudan.

UNAMID spokesperson Ashraf Eissa told a press conference in Khartoum on Sunday that the move was made in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2363 which calls for restructuring of UNAMID in two six-month phases.

Also the Security Council decided that at the end of Phase One of the drawdown, the authorised numbers of troops and police would be 11,395 and 2,888, respectively. At the end of Phase Two, there would be 8,735 troops and 2,500 police. UNAMID currently has an authorised ceiling of 15,845 troops and 3,403 police.

Eissa explained that implementation of this resolution was based on a two-prong approach combining peacekeeping and stabilization efforts, concentrating the peacekeeping tasks around Jebel Marra area while the rest of Darfur would benefit from the stabilization efforts with the Mission working closely with humanitarian and development partners.

He added that, as part of the reconfiguration, they were presently engaged in Phase One of reducing the uniformed personnel which would be completed by January 2018.

Phase Two starts in January 2018 and lasts until June 2018.

He said that the closure of the team was initially scheduled to be completed by the end of October but the Mission managed to do so ahead of schedule.

The Mission spokesman said that, in line with the general UN practices in post-conflict regions, the Mission recommends to the government of Sudan to transform the team sites handed over to it into facilities that contribute to the overall development of local communities and take into account the wishes of the local population, whenever possible.
-0- PANA MO/MA 22Oct2017