UNAMID drawdown: South Darfur site handed over

The United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) handed over its team site in Khor Abeche locality, South Darfur, to the Government of Sudan yesterday. The hand-over is part of the mission’s drawdown plan in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2559 which terminated UNAMID mandate as of 31 Dec 2020.

The handover documents were signed by the Wali (governor) of South Darfur Mousa Mahdi on behalf of the Government of Mousa Mahdi, Houston Fergusson, Director of Mission Support Division, on behalf of UNAMID.

Last week the UNAMID Drawdown Group and the South Darfur Technical Committee, visited the Manawashi Team Site and inspected the assets, premises, interacted with local community members UNAMID personnel as part of preparation for the closure and handover of the site.

UNAMID, the joint United Nations-African Union force began its mission in 2007. The UN Security Council (UNSC) decided on the establishment of UNITAMS on June 3 last year, in response to the official request of the Sudanese government sent to the UN Secretary General on February 27, to provide a Chapter VI peace support operation to Sudan,

On the same day, the Security Council also extended the mandate of the hybrid United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) until December 31, 2020, after which the peacekeepers will definitely leave Sudan.

UNITAMS

Volker Perthes, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Sudan and Head of United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), has described his first meeting with Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok as ‘fruitful’. In a statement following the meeting in Khartoum yesterday, Perthes says that the purpose of the meeting with Hamdok was “to hear directly from him the priorities of the new government”.