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Darfur Needs Help, United Nations Official Antonio Guterres Says

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres: “The world should help the African Union succeed in Darfur.."

The head of the United Nations refugee agency today, Monday Dec 19, strongly urged support to peace efforts carried in Darfur, Sudan, by the African Union (AU). Darfur has seen, during the last two years, over 180,000 deaths related to fights between militias, rebels, and government forces. About two million people left their homes because of the conflict.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres, after a two-day visit in Ethiopia:

"The success or failure of the Darfur process has the potential to make or break the stability in the whole region, if not the whole continent."

"The world should help the African Union succeed in Darfur, and I will personally be your advocate for the international community not to shy away from its responsibilities." (Antonio Guterres speaking to AU Commission President Alpha Oumar Konaré)

The two leaders also discussed their common vision of a strong African political integration and committed themselves to strengthening their organizations' cooperation. They resolved to jointly approach donors with creative projects to address the gap between short-term humanitarian relief and longer-term development assistance.

"The funds always come too late," Mr. Guterres said, alluding particularly to the Southern Sudan situation, where reconstruction should have started early on, after last January's settlement of a two decades-long war between Government and rebel forces, to allow for the sustainable return of millions of displaced people and the country's recovery.

Organized repatriation to South Sudan, which began over the weekend from Kenya, is due to start from Ethiopia in February 2006.