On September 1, 1939,  Germany attacked Poland and over-ran it. Britain and France soon began to mobilise their forces and declared war with Germany, the offending country.

Next, Russia and the United States became implicated in the war which ensued and which was designated World War II, a fearsome war indeed. It lasted for six long years during which period, thousands of soldiers were killed and important structures in London and other provincial cities were demolished by bombing, long range artillery fire, canons, etc.  This destructive war ended in 1945.

Three years later in 1948, the United Nations was inaugurated.  This body was formed in order to prevent what happened between Germany and Poland, the attack of a small country by a neighboring major power; the prevention of unexpected conflicts between nations which culminate in expensive and extensive war such as World War II. 

The UN body comprises of six major organs (1) A General Assembly (II) A Security Council (III) An Economic and Social Council (IV) A Trusteeship Council and (V) An International Court of Justice and a Secretariat.

The UN’s Charter is: 1. To promote peaceful settlements of disputes between nations and to stop aggression such as that which occurred between Germany and Poland in 1939 and its consequence of World War II.

Peacekeeping is an expensive programme, for it involves the maintenance of a military force in an area, the provision of adequate and wholesome food and ammunition for the forces, a suitable base and so on.

The UN member countries are supposed to pay their dues regularly, but from time to time, states fail to do so and these shortcomings do have an adverse effect on the organisation’s mandate and functions generally.

In recent years, there have been conflicts here and here, in the Middle East, North Africa. Dr Congo, the West Coast of Africa and Sudan.  These civil wars have been very violent and gruesome resulting in much suffering among the people, the killing and maiming of thousands, the displacements of people from their homes resulting in serious refugee problems.

Peacekeepers have had to be dispatched to all these regions and the UN has become overburdened with the provision of peacekeepers for these conflict areas.  Peacekeepers from The Gambia have been dispatched to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Darfur in Sudan and East Timor in the far east.

Th mayhem in the Sudanese region of Darfur has attained tremendous dimensions and it is reported that about 2,000,000 people have been killed there; thousands have fled their homes for neighboring Chad. 

The women have been shamefully raped frequently and other atrocities committed.  This commenced in 2003 and the Sudanese president, Omar El-Bashir does not appear to be concerned about the plight of his own  people.  He has watched his people being brutally murdered and does not seem to have taken steps to stop the carnage and their sufferings.

 Instead he has blatantly refused to allow AU peacekeepers to enter Sudan to help his people, yet he has been unable to restore peace in the region, an outrageous and callous attitude for a head of state.

It is noteworthy that only recently, when he heard that he was to be arrested and charged with genocide and crimes against humanity and sent to face trial in The Hague, he made a trip to Darfur, for the first time since the war commenced in 2003, to discover what was going on there!

Peacekeepers in Darfur are known to have been attacked and UN convoys of food supplies have been ambushed, their vehicles seized and their precious cargo of food for the suffering refugees looted thus making the lives of these noble volunteers unsafe.

We have even heard some unhappy reports from the peacekeepers themselves who complain that they are poorly equipped and are not given the basic requirements of adequate food, equipment, or ammunition.

They described their mission as frustrating, thus making it impossible and difficult for them to carry out their mission. 

The force commander is reported to have stated that the people expect too much from them even though they are not well provided for. 

How are the forces expected to do their work under these stressful circumstances?  We ask.  This has gone on unabated for five long years with the president unable to deal with such a grave situation and halt the struggle.

The headline, “Darfur force failing civilians”, which appeared in the Observer on July 29, is an unfair and unreasonable statement.

It is reported that six months after the mission began; only about a third of the 26,000 personnel promised had been deployed.  These peacekeepers cannot be blamed for these shortcomings. 

The Sudanese president must accept full responsibility for the miserable plight of his suffering peoples.  Peacekeepers cannot be blamed for the continuance of the conflict in Darfur.