Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  United Nations world headquarters in New York

By Gary Raynaldo    /   DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED NATIONS –  NEW YORK – A Joint UN-African Union mission to South Sudan concluded its three-day visit to the war-torn East-Central African nation Thursday. The AU-UN delegation expressed hope for a commitment to peace and a full  cessation of hostilities by end of 2019, The UN Under-Secretary for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix  is in Ethiopia’s captial, Addis Ababa today, where he briefed the African Union Peace and Security Council, along with the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Smail Chergui , on their joint trip to Sudan and the  Central African Republic. In Khartoum, they met with the new authorities, as well as the UN country team and the diplomatic community.  They also traveled to Darfur, where they had meetings with the local government officials and Mission leadership and personnel. Looking at the situation in Darfur,  Lacroix and Chergui expressed the continued support  of the UN and the  African Union towards peace and stabilization efforts. 

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  UN Under-Secretary for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix 

Privileged to meet in Khartoum w/ @SudanPMHamdok together w/ @AU_Chergui. Focused on Govt’s priority to achieve comprehensive peace across Sudan by end of 2019; and how @UN & @_AfricanUnion can jointly support new 🇸🇩leadership in ongoing transition from @UNPeacekeeping in Darfur. pic.twitter.com/HwU434TjCG

— Jean-Pierre Lacroix (@Lacroix_UN) October 9, 2019