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Secretary of State visit to Sudan
July 23 2007 (Updated 01 August 2007)
Related pages:
Sudan country profile |
Sudan Factsheet
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Last
week, Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander, made
his first visit to Africa. He visited Sudan in order to see for himself the
current situation in Darfur,
and to press home the importance of the
Comprehensive Peace
Agreement process between the Governments of Northern and Southern Sudan.
During his visit he went to El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, where he met
women and tribal elders, representatives of the approximately 150,000 internally
displaced people living in the area. They asked him for help to improve the
security in the region and for food, medicines and more water. He also met with
the new General, overseeing the
UN
AMIS mission and preparing for the
hybrid
African Union/UN force due to be deployed later in the year. As well as
this, he met with various representatives of the UN and non-governmental
organisations (NGOs).
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The
Secretary of State had full and frank discussions with the Government of Sudan.
He pressed for an end to the violence in Darfur and the resettlement of villages
by non-indigenous groups. He called on the Government of Sudan to support the
hybrid force and the talks with rebel groups on a peace process.
He went on to Juba and met representatives from the Government of Southern Sudan
and the new
Multi-Donor
Trust Fund, which is administered by the World Bank and supports priorities
jointly established by the Government and donors. He also met with the Joint
Donor Team in Juba, a highly innovative programme of mixed funding and policy
making involving the UK, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Canada.
On Tuesday 31 July, the UK and France, with US support,
agreed
and tabled a UN Security Council resolution that could see peacekeeping
troops deployed in Darfur by October.
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