Whist I am positive towards the concept of helping to fund a peacekeeping force in the Sudan it is unfortunate that the "West" in general is not sending peacekeepers on the ground to the Sudan.

Canada set to contribute $20M to Sudan peace force

FROM CANADIAN PRESS

KELOWNA, B.C. — Canada is preparing to contribute $20 million to a peacekeeping effort in violence-ravaged Sudan and will make a final decision on the move within days, The Canadian Press has learned.

"The money's there," said a senior government official who asked not to be identified.

"The prime minister (Paul Martin) is very concerned with what's happening in Sudan and we want to help peace return to the region."

The federal government had been blasted in some quarters for its already-announced contribution to the peacekeeping effort — about $250,000 in military equipment.

But Ottawa now plans to fork over 80 times that sum in an effort to bolster an expanded African Union military force to help prevent escalating militia attacks in Darfur.

The move is Ottawa's response to a call from United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who has said $220 million would be required to meet the needs of a larger force.

The top United Nations envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, said last week that more than 3,000 troops were needed — up from the current 300 African soldiers in the Darfur region.

Martin has spoken about the situation by phone with Annan and Nigerian President Olesugun Obasanjo over the past three weeks, said the official.

The additional Canadian money would stem from the country's commitment at a G8 summit last June to spend $50 million over five years on African peacekeeping missions.

The senior official said Canada's contribution hinges on two conditions: on the money being properly spent, and on the expanded African force being allowed into Sudan.

A rising chorus of critics say not enough is being done as a pro-government Arab militia in Sudan wages its counter-insurgency campaign.

There has been widespread destruction of villages and the displacement of about a million people. Some 30,000 have been killed