Mbeki, High-Level Group Discuss African Union Darfur Report at IPI

The seven-member African Union High-Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD), chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, devoted the period March-October 2009 to an in-depth examination of the situation in Darfur.

On December 21, Mr. Mbeki and Pierre Buyoya, the former president of Burundi, presented the report before the United Nations Security Council. That same evening the two former presidents gathered at IPI with a group of prominent ambassadors, UN officials and members of a successor panel headed by Mr. Mbeki, the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

The discussion was held under the Chatham House Rule of non-attribution.

The 126-page report, entitled The Quest for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation and divided into two broad sections, “Darfur and the Challenge to Africa” and “Recommendations to Resolve the Crisis in Darfur,” can be found here.

Attending were:

H.E. Mr. Thabo Mbeki, former President of South Africa and Chairperson of the AU Panel
H.E. Mr. Pierre Buyoya, Member of the AU Panel
H.E. Mr. Ramtane Lamamra, African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security
H.E. Mr. Téte António, Permanent Observer of the African Union

H.E. Mr. Ertuğrul Apakan, Permanent Representative of Turkey
H.E. Mr. Gérard Araud, Permanent Representative of France
H.E. Mr. Ibrahim O.A. Dabbashi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Libya
Dr. Francis Mading Deng, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide
Ambassador Ms. Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs, US Mission
Mr. Konstantin K. Dolgov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation
H.E. Mr. Ibrahim Gambari, Head of the AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur
H.E. Mr. Mark Lyall Grant, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom
H.E. Mrs. Mona Juul, Deputy Permanent Representative of Norway
H.E. Mr. Kim Won-soo, Deputy Chef de Cabinet, Executive Office of the Secretary-General
H.E. Mr. Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations
H.E. Mr. Welile Nhlapo, Ambassador of South Africa to the United States
H.E. Mr. Ruhakana Rugunda, Permanent Representative of Uganda
H.E. Mr. Baso Sangqu, Permanent Representative of South Africa
H.E. Mr. Herman Schaper, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
H.E. Mr. Paul Robert Tiendrébéogo, Deputy Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso
H.E. Mr. Jarmo Veli Tapio Viinanen, Permanent Representative of Finland
H.E. Mr. Zhang Yesui, Permanent Representative of China
Mr. Jean-Francis Régis Zinsou, Chargé d’affaires of Benin

Mr. Terje Rød-Larsen, President of IPI
Dr. Ed Luck, Senior Vice President for Research and Programs
Amb. John Hirsch, Senior Adviser, IPI