How effective are African Union troops?
For the time being the best option to address the security concerns is to hope for a strengthening of the Africa Union force currently in Darfur, and the strengthening of its mandate. This force is already here, it is legal and it has troops from a dozen African countries. Of course, it is also weak, not very effective and, most importantly, not seen as neutral by most displaced people. Due to the African Union’s refusal to talk to non-signatories of the Darfur Peace Agreement it is seen as aligned with the government of Sudan. I would hope that over time a stronger mandate for the AU force would be negotiated and it would be able to provide a level of genuine protection to the victims of human rights violations. There is a lot the Africa Union force could do to improve their engagement with people who are internally displaced. They could talk more with villagers and displaced people to learn their concerns. They could intervene when they see the animals of nomads devouring the un-harv
