NZDF's Senior National Officer Major Terry McDonald with children in Sudan, October 2009. (WN09-0040-098)
United Nations Mission in Sudan
The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) was established by the Security Council on 24 March 2005, by resolution 1590, after it had determined that the situation in the country continued to constitute a threat to international peace and security.
Southern Sudan
The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) is in Sudan to support the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
The Government of Sudan and the SPLM/A brought the CPA into existence on 9 January 2005, formally bringing an end to Africa’s longest-running civil war.
The Sudan government and the SPLM invited the United Nations to Sudan to monitor and support the CPA with a scheduled stay in Sudan of a total of seven years.
This covers a six-year interim period which runs until July 2011, as well as the six-month pre-interim period and the six-month phase-out stage.
Sudan is preparing to undertake elections in early 2010, and the New Zealand contingent is involved as part of UNMIS by facilitating the electoral process, among their many other key peace monitoring tasks.
Darfur
The conflict in Darfur started in 2003, pitting the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) against the Government of Sudan.
The Government responded by sending troops and recruiting Arab tribesmen, known as the Janjaweed, who engaged in attacks against the civilian population of this western region of Sudan. The April 2004 ceasefire is monitored by the African Union/ United Nations hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID), and has no NZDF staff deployed with it.
Source: Security Council Report Monthly Forecast Dec 2005 www.securitycouncilreport.org
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