The AU and the UN are trying to improve the humanitarian crisis in Darfur by attempting to persuade rebels outside the agreement to sign a peace accord.
The Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) was signed in Abuja, Nigeria on May 5, 2006 by the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM), led by Minni Minnawi, and the Sudanese government. But two rebel groups rejected the deal and remain outside the accord. Those groups include the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the National Redemption Front (NRF), which have splintered to form several smaller groups.
Salim Ahmed Salim of the African Union helped broker the DPA and has exerted tremendous effort in February 2007 with the United Nations' Jan Eliasson, attempting to persuade rebels to sign the deal. In theory, the DPA is an important document but little can be done to implement its terms without a consensus from the major players.
DPA's main points
The DPA stipulates that the Sudanese Government of National Unity will ensure that the government-backed Janjaweed militia disarms, a process which is to be verified by the AU. After this has been achieved, rebel forces are to assemble for their own disarmament and demobilization.
The agreement also specifies that 4,000 former combatants be integrated into the Sudanese Armed Forces, 1,000 be absorbed by the police forces and another 3,000 are to be given education and training support.
Money to rebuild the region has also been promised under the terms. The Sudanese government has mandated an initial sum of $300 million with an additional $200 million for two years to help rebuild the region as well as $30 million in compensation for victims of the conflict. A referendum scheduled for July 2010 will also determine whether or not to establish Darfur as a unitary region with a single government.
