Does Africa need a different approach to peacekeeping?

The issues of conflict in Sudan are those that I follow closely, which for various reasons, have had my attention since I started swapping MTV channels for news channels close to a decade ago. During my second year of undergrad, the events happening in Sudan, particularly in the western region of Darfur, were reminiscent of those that happened in Rwanda, during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The Janjaweed militia, who I envisioned as fierce looking men mounted atop galloping horses, with robes flying behind them and ruthlessly killing their fellow country-men and women on ethnic grounds in Darfur – cut too familiar a picture of the Interahamwe militia who wreaked havoc in Rwanda. Notwithstanding, there were differing dynamics but the violence meted out to the victims hit close to home. That is why, when Rwanda announced its peace-keeping mission in Darfur – I was one of many who was immensely proud of my country’s actions, which simply refused to stand back and watch a repeat of Rwanda’s tragedy happen in Sudan. Both the peacekeeping operations, under the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), and the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), were largely aimed at supporting the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the north-south war in Sudan. The CPA ushered in the successful 2010 national elections and later, South Sudan’s secession in 2011. With bated breath, the world watched as the world’s youngest country celebrated its new-found independence, and geared for an exciting albeit tough road ahead of transformation and development. Peacekeeping operations would hopefully close shop in the near future, with the promise of two countries looking forward to and owning the process of their stability and growth, for the first time in over two decades. Alas, this wasn’t to be. A utopian aspiration at best, some have said. In not less than a year after its secession, South Sudan is perilously close to war with Sudan over the Heglig oilfieds. With Sudan’s President Omar el Bashir referring to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) as “insects” that need to be “eliminated for once and for all,” dialogue between the two countries looks a dismal possibility. All this, in addition to South Sudan’s cycles of inter-communal violence. This renewed tension is likely to affect the wider region, including in Darfur where peacekeepers have not only helped restore peace and security but also directly supported the development of the local communities. In light of all this, my question is: have the last seven years of peacekeeping operations in Sudan been wasted efforts? What does the recent conflict mean for our brothers’ and sisters’ peacekeeping endeavors to better the lives of those they are meant to support? Ideally, peacekeeping is supposed to be temporary, but on-the-ground realities on the African continent show that this isn’t so. The same questions apply to the peacekeeping operations in the DRC, which due to editorial constraints of space, is another story for another day. All in all, perhaps it is time that peacekeeping concepts are revisited, and the question remains – is a different approach to peacekeeping on the African continent needed?