SUPPORT TO AFRICAN UNION MISSION SUDAN

On 28 May 2004 the African Union (AU) deployed a small military monitoring force called the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to the crisis-stricken area of Darfur. The deployment aimed to end violence and improve the humanitarian situation in a region that has been suffering from conflict since 2003.

Following a request for assistance from the AU, NATO announced it would help the AU by airlifting AU peacekeepers and assisting them with training, organising headquarters and managing intelligence. SACEUR’s Strategic Military Mission Order for NATO Logistical Support to the African Union Mission in Sudan was agreed by the NAC on June 22, 2005 and issued the following day. Subsequent revisions to the Strategic Military Mission Order included the deployment of NATO teams to Khartoum to assist in staff capability building. The AU Mission in Sudan continued until 31 December 2007.

From June 2005 to 31 December 2007, NATO provided air transport for some 37,000 AMIS personnel, as well as trained and mentored over 250 AMIS officials. While NATO’s support to this mission ended when AMIS was succeeded by the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), the Alliance immediately expressed its readiness to consider any request for support to the new peacekeeping mission.