GENOCIDE IN DARFUR: Brussels Donor Conference a Bust in More Ways Than One

by Andrew Bast

In some ways, the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan is about money. With millions of refugees and no suitable infrastructure, when it comes to saving lives, aid is the name.

Last month, an international donor committee came together in Brussels. The objective was to raise cash to sustain the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur at least until the end of the year. (Some, including the UN and the US, hope that a UN force will then take over before 2007.)

On July 18th, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan turned to the international community to pony up funds. It didn't go too well. The AU force is about 7,000 members strong and reportedly doesn't manage its finances all that well. The AU needs about $700 million to make it to the end of the year. The conference coughed up a paltry $220 million.

Breakdown: US: $116 million. EU: $30 million (with another $50 million directed toward humanitarian aid). Netherlands: $31 million. Britain: $36 million. France: $2.5 million. Belgium: $1.3 million. That makes the $220 million, enough to keep the mission alive until September. The year's budget is still $450 million short.

Meanwhile, President Bush has said firmly that a UN force ought to be in Darfur by year's end. And according to a report in today's Washington Post, Annan has proposed the world's largest UN Peacekeeping mission in the region -- 24,000 troops and international police officers.

Only, funding aside, and the UN force will cost and arm and a leg, there's a hitch. The UN will likely not lead an international force into Darfur without the Sudanese government's go-ahead. And last words on the matter out of Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir were that UN troops would be permitted, "Only over my dead body."

And since the cease-fire signed in May, the violence has worsened.

(Photo of Sudanese currency from flickr.)