Doha, 15 July 2011 - Representing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Professor Ibrahim Gambari participated on 14 July in the signing ceremony for the Agreement Between the Government of Sudan and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) for the Adoption of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, calling the protocol agreement a "significant step forward."
 
"We are gathered here to witness and extend support to the building of a strong foundation for an inclusive and comprehensive resolution to the conflict," Professor Gambari told the gathering of several hundred representatives of Darfuri civil society, government and the LJM as well as several African heads of state, diplomats, Qatari officials, and representatives of the League of Arab States, African Union and Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
 
Sudan President Omar Hassan Al Bashir and LJM chairman Eltigari Seisi Mohamed Ateen also addressed the ceremony.

Singing ceremony for the Agreement between the Government of Sudan and LJM in Doha, Qatar. Photo by UNAMID - Olivier Chassot

The protocol agreement signed at Doha's Sheraton Hotel indicates a commitment on the part of the Government of Sudan and the LJM to the outcome document of the All Darfur Stakeholders Conference of 27-31 May 2011, also held in Doha. Professor Gambari and other speakers urged the other armed movements of Darfur to sign up to the Doha Document, and said that the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was ready to prepare the ground across Darfur for an internal political dialogue to involve the people of Darfur in any peace agreement achieved.
 
"The challenge remains to determine how best to engage and persuade 'hold-out' groups that a military solution to the Darfur conflict is not the way to go, while encouraging them to make every effort to participate in a comprehensive peace agreement as soon as possible," said Gambari, who is the Joint Special Representative of UNAMID and the Joint Chief Mediator ad interim.
 
Darfur and the UN need a "peace agreement to implement and the commitment of the parties to stop fighting in order to begin reconstruction, beyond relief... Concurrently, we're addressing the root causes of the conflict, particularly water," he said, referring to the Darfur International Conference on Water for Sustainable Peace, sponsored by UNAMID and the Government of Sudan in late June.

Read here the statement delivered by UNAMID Joint Special Representative Ibrahim Gambari at the signing ceremony.
 

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