Ottawa, 7 October 2011 – Canada’s help could be critical in assisting the development of a “new roadmap” for the Darfur peace process, the head of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur, Joint Special Representative Ibrahim Gambari, said in talks with senior Canadian Government officials during a three-day visit to Ottawa.

Canada has been a major backer of peacekeeping efforts in Darfur and in particular of the two-year peace process among the parties to the Darfur conflict in Doha, Qatar. In addition to leading UNAMID, the AU-UN peacekeeping mission, JSR Gambari is also the interim Chief Joint Mediator in the Darfur peace talks.

“Canada has played an important and substantial role in the development of a comprehensive peace in Darfur,” JSR Gambari told Margaret Biggs, president of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in a meeting Wednesday. “We now have a unique opportunity for a new beginning, an enduring peace and a way forward towards a better future for all Darfuris.”

JSR Gambari also briefed the president of the International Development Research Center (IDRC), David Malone, and officials at the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense on developments in the Darfur peace process following the signing of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) between the Government of Sudan and one of its armed opponents, the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) on 14 July 2011.

The peacekeeping chief has been touring key capitals calling on the international community to exert pressure on other armed movements to join in the peace process in order to achieve a permanent ceasefire in Darfur and give the hundreds of thousands of Darfuris displaced by war the confidence to return to their homes.
 
“The Doha Darfur Peace Document can best be described as a work in progress which forms the basis for reaching a comprehensive agreement that would hopefully address the root causes of the Darfur conflict,” JSR Gambari said in a speech to the IDRC on Wednesday. “It would require the support of all international partners engaged in the process, particularly to encourage other hold out movements, such as SLA-Abdul Wahid and SLA-Minni Minawi to engage in negotiations rather than uniting with the SPLM-North for war against the Government.”

Canada has been a significant contributor to the Joint Mediation Support Team (JMST) Trust Fund which has lent technical expertise to the Doha talks, and it has actively supported the UN and AU efforts to bring rebel groups and movements to the peace talks with the Government of Sudan.

Canada co-chairs with the United States the “Friends of UNAMID” group, and has provided training for African countries deploying civilian police, military and formed police units to UNAMID, as well as providing armored vehicles for the AU-UN peacekeeping mission.

Communication and Public Information Division Media Contacts
Kemal Saïki, Director; saiki@un.org; tel.: +249 (0) 92 244 3529; mobile: +249 (0) 92 241 0020

Susan Manuel, Deputy director, manuels@un.org, mobile: +249 (0)92 241 0274

John Chiahemen, Media Relations, chiahemen@un.org, mobile: +249 (0)900 905 271