Our very own Member Christine Tonkin was the Guest Speaker this week, and her topic was Darfur, Sudan - No Peace to Keep. Christine was a civilian peace keeper in Darfur between 2008 and 2010, and she explained that it is located in West Sudan and is about the size of Spain. Sudan as a whole is about the size of WA. Darfur was originally a Fur Sultanate consisting of farmers and nomadic pastoralists, but in 1916 the British overthrew the Sultanate and triggered many years of conflict stemming from land disputes, resource inequality and ethnic tensions. This erupted into a devastating war which started in 2003, resulting in a large-scale humanitarian crisis. In 2007 the United Nations established the African Union - United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) to bring stability to the region while peace talks on a final settlement took place, but the mandate came to an end in 2020 following another UN resolution. UNAMID did have some success e.g. by bringing sustained international attention to the region; reducing large scale conflict; and improving humanitarian access, but unfortunately there were shortcomings too, such as mandate ambiguity; lack of robust political strategy; and not including rebel groups very well. The current conflict is between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces – a Sudanese paramilitary force.
