United nations, EU, where are you??

Any discussion about the UN always leads to the same conclusion. The UN is by design on it's own is an ineffectual organization. That has the power of discussion but not of action.

au1929 wrote:

Any discussion about the UN always leads to the same conclusion. The UN is by design on it's own is an ineffectual organization. That has the power of discussion but not of action.

Well, in addition to nimh's [rhetoric? :wink: ] question:

give the UN some more money - it's annual budget is just one quarter of New York City's! - , and perhaps that could help, too.

Politics-Sudan: Peacekeepers a 'Drop in the Ocean' - But Welcome Nonetheless

Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)
June 14, 2004

Moyiga Nduru
Johannesburg

Rebels in south Sudan have welcomed the United Nations' weekend decision to send a peacekeeping mission to the country to monitor agreements that would end Africa's longest running civil war.

But, they believe a more substantial UN presence is needed - and one with a stronger mandate to stand its ground in trouble spots. [..]

Under UN regulations, the activities of peacekeepers in Africa and elsewhere are often circumscribed by something known as a Chapter Six mandate. [..] The Chapter Six mandate may allow peacekeepers to use force to protect people who are in imminent danger, while a Chapter Seven mandate allows for a greater degree of military intervention.

"We need both Chapters Six and Seven. These will enable the UN troops to play a dual role of monitoring and enforcing the peace in Sudan," said Marial, who is based in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare. [..]

[H]opes of an enduring peace have now been raised - this after the SPLA and the Islamic regime in Khartoum signed several peace protocols in the Kenyan town of Naivasha last month, and earlier this year. [..]

The protocols laid the ground for the UN to endorse unanimously on Saturday (Jun. 12) the creation of a UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will now lead efforts to plan the size, structure and mandate of the operations.

"We want the UN peacekeepers to ensure the survival of the agreement. Maybe the Sudanese army, which appears unhappy about the peace process, may decide to seize power in Khartoum and say they don't recognise the Naivasha agreement," Jada Y, the chairman of the Sudanese community in South Africa, told IPS.

"This is the time when the role of the UN peacekeepers will become very, very crucial." [..]

Apart from overseeing the two-year withdrawal of most of the 193,000 Sudanese government soldiers from the south, the UN troops are also expected to help train the new 24,000-strong military that will include government and rebel soldiers. This force will be based in south Sudan.

All of this will be done in challenging conditions. "Since creation, there has never been any tarmac road in southern Sudan, an area the size of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi put together," SPLA leader John Garang said [..]

"The net enrolment rate in primary schools is only 20 percent, with about 80 percent of those (in school) having no benches to sit on...Only seven percent of the teachers are trained," Garang added.

"Besides, at least three out of every four adults are illiterate, and (only) one of every ten female adults is literate. The level of access to an improved water source is only 27 percent, and there is only one medical doctor for every 100,000 persons."

Egypt, India, Yemen, Norway, Germany and other states have expressed interest in contributing troops to the UN mission in Sudan where, military analysts estimate, 10,000 peacekeepers are needed. But, "Our feeling is that 10,000 troops will not be enough," said Marial. "It's just a drop in the ocean...We will encourage the United Nations to send more troops." [..]

UN May Intervene in Sudan
Associated Press
June 17,2004

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan raised the possibility Thursday of international intervention to protect more than 1 million people threatened by fighting in the Darfur region of western Sudan. [..]

Fighting between Arab militias, believed to be backed by the government, and the black African population has killed thousands of people and forced more than 1 million to flee their homes. [..]

Last week, the Security Council adopted a resolution giving the United Nations a green light to start planning for a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Sudan.

At the moment, the peacekeepers are supposed to monitor an agreement, expected to be finalized shortly, that will formally end a 21-year civil war in southern Sudan, but their mission could be expanded to Darfur with council agreement. [..]

[UN] Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland had said that the number of people in acute need of food and medical help in Darfur has nearly doubled from 1.2 million to 2 million.

"We are rushing to get as much supplies on the ground before the rains come,'' Annan said Thursday. "We have also been putting pressure on the Sudanese government to allow humanitarian workers ... to be given free access to Darfur and allow supplies and equipment to come it. Things have improved but much more needs to be done.'' [..]

So, eh, Steissd et al., who's actually going to at least send a peacekeeping mission to Sudan? The US or the UN?

The UN.

But dont let that get in the way of any argument, please.

Nimh
What I would have liked to have seen is Mr. Annon soliciting troops from member nation to be sent in as a fighting force, if need be. Sending humanitarian
supplies in while people are being slaughtered seems like a half measure. In addition I would also like to see the EU have some initiative.

Nimh
What I would have liked to have seen is Mr. Annon soliciting troops from member nation to be sent in as a fighting force, if need be. Sending humanitarian
supplies in while people are being slaughtered seems like a half measure. In addition I would also like to see the EU have some initiative.

The Charter of the United Nations gives the UN Security Council the power and responsibility to take collective action to maintain international peace and security. For this reason, the international community usually looks to the Security Council to authorize peacekeeping operations.

Well, better late than never. It took more than 20 years and 2 million of victims to make UN do something. And I have strong doubts in efficiency of the UN intervention.

Palestinian tactics of attracting attention to their problems, both real and imaginative, by means of hijacking planes and passenger vessels outside the conflict area (they used to do such things in 60-80s) works better...

The only way to make the Muslim authorities to leave the Southern Christians alone is to bomb the hell out of North, to destroy all their military and economic infrastructure by means of aerial attacks, and to continue bombings until they surrender and submit to demands of the peacekeeping forces.