Madam, - Your Editorial on Darfur (August 2nd) struck an appropriate balance between restrained optimism and caution as to how effective the latest UN resolution on the region will be. It is encouraging that the resolution received unanimous support from the Security Council, including China, and that the Sudanese government has said it will co-operate with the deployment of the 26,000-strong UN/African Union force. The strong public commitment of British prime minister Gordon Brown and French president Sarkozy to ending the tragedy in Darfur is also positive and changes the international political context for a settlement.
But the caution is justified in light of the record of UN resolutions over the past three years, which have either been ignored or, when implemented, have made little difference to the lives of more than 2 million people living in camps.
If this latest resolution is to mark a turning point, there must be a renewed urgency in tackling the central political problem, with its linked security and humanitarian dimensions.
The willingness of the Sudanese government and the rebel groups to reach an accommodation will determine whether political progress is possible. The international community has a key role in keeping pressure on both sides, firstly to implement a meaningful ceasefire and then to develop a sustained peace process. As part of this process, the rebel groups need both assistance, and pressure, to adopt coherent negotiating positions.
On the security front, the test is how quickly the force can be deployed and, within its enhanced but still limited mandate, improve security. This is a test both for the Sudanese government and the international community.
Khartoum must follow through on its public commitment to support the resolution and facilitate the deployment. The international community must find the resources - human, logistical and financial - to make it happen. The financial cost will be high, some $2 billion. The cost of failure, in terms of more deaths, wasted lives and dashed hopes, will be incalculable.
More than 2 million people are now facing their fourth year in camps and 4 million depend on food aid. Failure to make political progress in Darfur will condemn these people to a life of desperation, dependent on international charity, despairing of ever returning home to their villages.
This is what is at stake in Darfur. The UN resolution deserves welcome. What difference it will make depends on sustained follow-through by all the main actors in Sudan and the international community. - Yours, etc,
TOM ARNOLD,
Chief Executive, Concern,
Lower Camden Street,
Dublin 2.