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Joint franco-british initiative on Darfur, announced at the meeting of M. Nicolas SARKOZY, President of the Republic, with Mr Gordon Brown, Prime minister of the United Kingdom

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Paris, 20 July 2007

Joint concern at continuing crisis. Unacceptable levels of suffering: 2.2 million people internally displaced or refugees in Chad, four million on food aid, widespread banditry and violence and increasing destabilising effects on the whole region.

We stand ready to help, diplomatically, politically and financially. We are committed to move forward in a more comprehensive way, on the basis of an international consensus following the Paris conference, UNSC visit to Khartoum, and Tripoli Meeting. In that respect, we propose a four-point plan for comprehensive approach within wider strategy in Sudan/region:

acceleration of the deployment of AU/UN operation. We will seek agreement by end-July on a UNSCR that mandates the hybrid operation, provides for UN funding, and sets out progress needed on a ceasefire, political process and immediate humanitarian improvement.

We welcome UNSG's call for earliest possible deployment of hybrid operation. We urge UN to accelerate planning so deployment can start in September/October; Khartoum and rebels to facilitate deployment; and UN members to offer troops and support In the meantime, we are committed to continue to support AMIS, financially and logistically, and we will work together with UN and AU for a rapid deployment of the heavy support package, paving the way to the hybrid operation.

We actively support AU/UN-led political process. We welcome decisions at Tripoli on peace talks. We press all the key rebels leaders to participate in the Arusha meeting, as agreed by the international community at the Tripoli conference. We urge the Government of National Unity and rebels to negotiate according to the AU/UN roadmap, conditions and timeframe, and facilitate involvement of other Darfuri groups. We call for all parties to recommit to ceasefire and end aggression/banditry, to give political space and make immediate change to the lives of people of Darfur.

We will address Darfur's immediate recovery and long-term reconstruction needs, sequenced against political progress:

We urge all the parties to commit to an effective ceasefire during the coming negotiations. When a settlement is in place we will contribute to longer-term reconstruction. We welcome UN, World Bank work on assessments, recovery planning and the setting up of Trust Funds. We will support the Netherlands-hosted pledging conference.

As soon as security allows, we will commit resources to grass-roots development activity for immediate improvements to people's lives, addressing water access, supporting resettlement, promoting sustainable livelihoods, ensuring basic services are provided; channelling money through UN trust fund.

All can benefit from a lasting settlement. As benchmarks are met, we will work with all parties on meeting Sudan's economic needs including debt relief and trade, tied to transparent, stable oil wealth-sharing arrangement, including for Darfur. We call all Parties to fully implement the CPA.

A comprehensive strategy for tackling the Darfur issue is needed. In that respect, there cannot be any solution to the situation in Darfur without addressing its destabilising effect in the region. We are concerned by the situation in Eastern Chad and in North-eastern CAR. We fully support the idea of an EU/UN involvement in that region, through an ESDP operation and a UN civil presence in camps in Chad. We call upon the government of Chad and Sudan to fully cooperate for peace and stability in the region.

If progress is not made on security, ceasefire, political process and humanitarian access we will work together for further UN sanctions. We will judge all stakeholders, notably GoS and rebels, on actions, not words./.

Source of English text: FCO

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