19 January 2009 -- Tripartite mechanism on Darfur meets in Addis Ababa

16 Mar 2009

19 January 2009 -- Tripartite mechanism on Darfur meets in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa, 19 January 2009 – Representatives of the African Union Commission, the United Nations (UN) and the Government of Sudan (GoS) met today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the third meeting of the Tripartite coordinating mechanism on the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation (UNAMID) to address key issues relating to the deployment of UNAMID and plans for the way forward.

UN Under Secretary-General for Field Support, Susana Malcorra, confirmed that UNAMID had achieved a 60% deployment of troops by the end of December 2008, ascribing this achievement to the spirit of engagement of all parties involved.

Sudan’s Under–Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Saddiq Mutrif, said the Tripartite has proved to be immensely useful to enhance cooperation and decision making.

African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ramtane Lamamra, said the work of the Tripartite Mechanism was very satisfactory, adding that it reflected the high priority given to a complex and difficult peacekeeping mission as UNAMID.

At the end of the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding on air operations was signed by GoS and UNAMID to enable the latter make a more effective use of the infrastructure of Sudanese airports to speed up the deployment process.

UNAMID was represented by Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management, Mr. Hocine Medili; Force Commander, General Martin Luther Agwai; and Police Commissioner, Michael Fryer.

The Tripartite Mechanism was established in 2008 and already met in Khartoum twice in the same year.
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