El Fasher, 29 April 2014 – The eighth meeting of the Implementation and Follow-up Commission (IFC) of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) was held on 28 April in El Fasher, North Darfur.

The commission discussed the progress made and the challenges faced since its last meeting which was held on 16 December 2013.

The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister of the State of Qatar, H.E. Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud. The Government of Sudan was represented by Minister of State Dr. Amin Hassan Omer, while the Chairperson of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA), Dr. El Tigani Seisi, and Mr. Altoum Suliman, represented the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) and Justice and Equality Movement-Sudan, respectively. Also present were the representatives of the African Union, the European Union, the League of Arab States, Canada, Chad, China, Burkina Faso, Egypt, France, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the AU-UN Joint Special Representative and Joint Chief Mediator hosted the event at UNAMID’s headquarters.

Speaking to the media at the conclusion of the meeting, the JSR, commended the spirit of cooperation demonstrated by all parties to the DDPD, “I urge the parties to continue to accommodate each other in this process” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Al Mahmoud reiterated Qatar’s commitment to the development of Darfur and support to early recovery projects for the region. “Development and reconstruction projects should go alongside the peace processes so that Darfuri people can make use of it and achieve peaceful coexistence and stability not only for Darfur, but across the region” he stated.