KHARTOUM, July 20 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said on Thursday that reconfiguration of the UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) does not mean its termination, saying UNAMID would remain an important peacekeeping operation.
"This is not a termination of UNAMID. UNAMID, after the reconfiguration, will remain quite an important peacekeeping operation," Lacroix told reporters in Khartoum.
The UN official attributed the UN Security Council's decision to reduce UNAMID components to the great decline of fighting in Darfur region.
"The Security Council has decided to reduce the size of UNAMID given the evolution of the situation on the ground, essentially the fact that there is much less fighting in most of Darfur, except the Jebel Marra area where the situation remains complicated and more tense," he said.
Lacroix, however, said challenges of security, humanitarian access and the implementation of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur remain in Darfur region, highlighting UN's support for further improvement in those areas.
Lacroix, who arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday, will later visit El Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur State where UNAMID is headquartered.
He is also expected to visit the disputed area of Abyei between Sudan and South Sudan, where the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei is based.
Earlier, UNAMID said it began implementation of a reconfiguration according to a UN Security Council resolution on reducing its components adopted on June 29.
According to the mission, the reconfiguration will be conducted in two phases, which will reduce the military personnel to 8,735 from 13,627 and the police personnel to 2,500 from 2,994 by June 30, 2018.
The mission also includes 748 international civilian personnel, 2,151 local civilian personnel and 120 volunteers.
In early 2008, the UNAMID was deployed in Darfur, a region which has been witnessing military clashes between the Sudanese army and the rebels since 2003, which according to UN statistics has left 300,000 dead and displaced around 2.5 million others.
