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The UN Provides Logistical Support for Elections, Security in Sudan

   Peter Clottey 14 April 2010
   A  handout picture from UNMIS shows internally displaced persons (IDP)
   waiting  for the distribution of aid during a visit by UN humanitarian
   chief John Holmes in the town of Akobo in southern Sudan, 8 May 2009

Photo: AFP

   A  handout picture from UNMIS shows internally displaced persons (IDP)
   waiting  for the distribution of aid during a visit by UN humanitarian
   chief John Holmes in the town of Akobo in southern Sudan, 8 May 2009

   A top official of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) says the
   world  body is supporting the full implementation of the Comprehensive
   Peace  Agreement  (CPA),  an  effort  supported  by  the government in
   Khartoum and its former adversaries, the southern-based Sudan Peopleâs
   Liberation Movement.

   âThere  has been a commitment by both parties to the implementation of
   the   CPA  and  they  have  been  [marking]  the  milestones  for  the
   implementation  â  one  is  the polls, and the UN Mission supports the
   Sudanese   national   elections  commission  with  limited  logistical
   support,â said UNMIS spokesman Ashraf Eissa.

   Part  of  the UNâs mission is to provide security.  UNMIS consists of
   over   17,000  military  personnel  and  over  3,000  civilian  police
   personnel.

   âThe  UN  police  forces,â  said Eissa, âhave been training the police
   authorities  in  north  and  south  Sudan  on  election  security, and
   securing election ballots and stations.â

   âWe have had our civil access teams deployed to tense areas talking to
   tribal  chiefs and resolving issue of contention in hot spots. And the
   UN  has  been  arranging  patrols  in  areas  with  tribal violence in
   southern  Sudan..  They have been successful in diffusing tensions and
   stabilizing regions where tension is possible.â

   In  2006 the United Nations-Habitat, which works on human settlements,
   opened  a  new office in South Sudanâs capital, Juba, to help resettle
   over two million internally displaced persons and refugees.

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