Hope for Peace in Darfur Lies in the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation

“The Darfur Peace Agreement must be seen as just a framework for peace.  The real peace plan can only come from the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation,” said Sudanese Activist Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam.

The Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) was signed in May by the government of Sudan and one rebel faction. Since the signing, violence has escalated and deadlines have not been met.

According to the agreement, two important bodies were to be set up within 30 days of the agreement's effective date, which was set by the African Union as May 15, 2006. These were: a Darfur Reconstruction and Development Fund and a Preparatory Committee for the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation (DDDC). There has been no announcement about the creation of either body to date. The DDDC is intended to be a grassroots reconciliation process involving representatives of all the parties and interest groups in the region.

“Many of the most important stakeholders in Darfur were not represented in the negotiations leading to the DPA. If there is to be a meaningful peace settlement, it will need to be achieved through the DDDC in an inclusive process that involves signatories and non-signatories to the DPA, as well as other Darfurians,” said Dr. Mudawi. “The African Union, United Nations, European Union, League of Arab States and the U.S. administration must put their full weight behind the DDDC since each day they delay, more lives are destroyed.”  

Human Rights First and Dr. Mudawi again call for the appointment of a high level U.N. Special envoy for Darfur by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Special Envoy’s personal reputation, credibility and global mandate would provide the clout to re-focus media and public attention on the conflict, and to hold all parties to their obligations. The Special Envoy would also serve a vital role in helping to secure a genuine and inclusive process of reconciliation through the DDDC.

The DDDC cannot take place as simply a single large event, but, rather, as a process which has to start from the grassroots, with the population selecting their representatives for higher level conferences, leading up to an all-Darfur conference. The outcomes of this DDDC process must be binding and the final conference will have to establish a mechanism to implement them.

Building Upon the Darfur Peace Agreement

Human Rights First welcomed announcement of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) on May 5, 2006. At the same time, however, Human Rights First also warned that the fragile arrangement would require continuing leadership, pressure and attention by the international community at the highest levels to ensure fair implementation of the agreement. We also emphasized that an inclusive Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation (DDDC) process, free of manipulation by the parties, would be essential to a lasting peace.

It is not a small matter to reopen an agreement such as the DPA that took so much hard work from so many people to come into being. Unfortunately, the DPA is at serious risk of imminent collapse. Most people in Darfur do not believe that the DPA adequately represents their interests. In the months following conclusion of the DPA, the killing has escalated, and the political landscape has become increasingly fragmented. Key implementation deadlines for the DPA have gone unmet – particularly the planning timeline for disarming the Janjaweed and organizing the DDDC. Meanwhile, the U.N. and African Union (A.U.) have reported credible allegations of new attacks targeting civilians perpetrated by DPA signatories, and the Sudanese government continues to block deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force. As a practical matter, the facts on the ground have already “amended” much of the DPA as originally written.

In these circumstances, there is no alternative to bringing together all the communities and interest groups in the region -- whether they support the DPA or do not – to continue negotiations and create the peace. If the many populations opposed to the DPA are not persuaded that the DDDC will be an open process with the power to address and resolve the many issues that are covered inadequately or not at all by the agreement, the DPA will, in any case, fail. The window for peace is closing.

More about the DDDC from Sudanese Activist Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam (PDF-32KB)