The African Union’s (AU) intervention in Sudan’s Darfur
region tests the effectiveness of its own peace and security
structures and those of the European Union (EU). The AU
has taken the lead both in the political negotiations between
the government and the rebels and in deploying a peacemonitoring
mission, the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS). It
has had to rely on outside support for AMIS, with nearly
two thirds of its funding coming from the EU’s African
Peace Facility. The results are mixed. If Darfur is to have
stability anytime soon, and the two organisations are
to fulfil their ambitions to be major players in crisis
prevention and crisis resolution, AMIS must get more
troops and a more proactive, civilian-protection mandate,
and the EU needs to find ways to go beyond the present
limitations of the African Peace Facility in providing
assistance.
The EU/AU relationship on Darfur involves a mutually
steep learning curve. It has been generally successful from
a technical point of view, although coordination within
and between each could be much improved, and has laid
a foundation for further cooperation between Addis Ababa
and Brussels. However, the security situation is worsening,
with none of the parties fully respecting the ceasefire, and
the political process is stalled. Crisis Group continues to
believe that the troop level on the ground in Darfur needs
to be brought up to 12,000-15,000 immediately in order
to create the requisite security to protect civilians, encourage
displaced persons to begin to return home and establish
conditions conducive to more productive negotiations for
a political settlement.
