Top United Nations officials on Friday urged continued international support to ensure that hard-won gains in the Darfur region of Sudan take hold.
"This is not the time to disengage," Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told participants at the high-level meeting on Darfur, held on the margins of the General Assembly's annual general debate.
"We have invested 16 billion US dollars in peacekeeping alone over the past ten years, in addition to humanitarian funding and bilateral aid to alleviate the suffering of the population. As the region recovers from war, now is the time to consolidate gains," said Mohammed, adding that it was time to "step up and make sure Darfur moves towards peace and prosperity."
Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, speaks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, September 26, 2018. /VCG Photo
A civil war, which broke out in 2003, led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Darfuris and the displacement of nearly two million.
In the fighting between Sudanese government troops and militias and other armed rebel groups, atrocities such as murder and rape of civilians were committed.
Mohammed noted that today's Darfur "looks very different" from the one ten years ago when the African Union and the UN deployed their joint peacekeeping mission, known as UNAMID, to help stabilize the region.
Displaced people carry their belongings to get away from flood during heavy rain in South Darfur, June 3, 2017. /VCG Photo
"In the Darfur of today, we see intermittent clashes in the mountains of the Jebel Marra, but the violent conflict has subsided. Outside of that zone, fighting has largely ended, and intercommunal clashes have been considerably reduced," she noted.
"This is a significant achievement and a clear expression that our goal of silencing the guns in Africa can be a reality," she added.
In July, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the UN-AU Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) until the end of June next year, but reduced the number of troops deployed in the field with an eye towards the mission's eventual exit.
Relatives wait for the prisoners to be released, after 259 prisoners from Darfur rebel movements were released in accordance with the general amnesty decision of President Omar al-Bashir, in Khartoum, March 9, 2017./VCG Photo
At Friday's meeting, Mohammed proposed the creation of a "Group of Friends of the Transition in Darfur" to provide political support and ensure the UN Country Team has sufficient resources during this period.
It was also proposed to have a pledging conference in the near future to ensure that the UN system can "ramp up" its work and avoid any gap in critical work as UNAMID draws down.