The UN Mission in Darfur
| Date | Monday, January 14, 2008 |
| Location | Senate Dirksen, Room G11 |
David Mozersky, Horn of Africa director for International Crisis Group, and Laura Sitea, political affairs officer, Office of Operations, United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), joined us for a discussion of the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur. Peacekeepers came under fire from Sudanese government forces just one week after the UN took control over the mission from the African Union. The top peacekeeping official at the UN said that obstructionism by the Sudanese government, the failure of other countries to supply essential transportation equipment, and continued violence threatened to doom the mission of the freshly deployed peacekeeping force. The outlook for a political solution to the region's problems remains troubled. What is the current situation on the ground in Darfur? What are the capabilities and gaps of the force that is being deployed? What are the UN's plans towards unifying Darfurian rebels and advancing the political process? What can the US do to support the mission in Darfur and the EU mission in Eastern Chad?