Daily Darfur: The Search for Comprehensive Peace in Sudan

by Martha Heinemann Bixby · 2009-06-23 07:22:00 UTC
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Yesterday evening representatives from north and south Sudan convened in Washington, DC for a conference to discuss implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which was signed in 2005, ending the decades long north-south civil war.

"To prevent a return to war and promote peace throughout all of Sudan, including Darfur, the U.S. and the international community must ensure that the CPA is fully implemented." - from Refugees International's statement on the conference

Reuters has a helpful Q&A on the conference, asking (and answering) such questions as:

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE SUMMIT?

Any return to civil war in Sudan would have a disastrous effect on the country, its oil industry [...] and surrounding states.

Sudan's two-decade civil war between its Muslim north and its mostly Christian south dwarfed the more prominent Darfur conflict in terms of bloodshed and regional impact.

Two million people died and 4 million fled their homes between 1983 and 2005 as north and south Sudan battled out differences in ideology, ethnicity and religion.

The Enough Project released a paper - "Sudan: The Countdown" - explaining the significance of this meeting, and outlining the elements needed to achieve further implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. 

The Save Darfur Coalition, the Enough Project and the Genocide Intervention Network also released a joint statement in support of the conference and urging :

"The successful implementation of the CPA is essential to achieving peace in Sudan, but it cannot stand alone.  The original intent of this agreement was to provide a transformative framework for peace and democracy for all of Sudan.  It is our hope that the revitalizing of the CPA at this conference will also bolster parallel efforts to reach a peaceful settlement in Darfur."

The genocide debate continues.

Former US Special Envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios has a piece in the Washington Post today, arguing that the situation in Darfur is not genocide, but rather

"the conflict has descended into anarchy."

Photo: the Stop Genocide Now team is on Day 9 of their trip to refugee camps in Chad.

Martha Heinemann Bixby
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