The Private Sector in Sudan? Part One

For nearly four years, the word has watched in horror as the people of Darfur have been displaced, starved, and murdered. The result - roughly 300,000 to 400,000 killed, nearly 3 million displaced, and an emboldened Omar al-Bashir Sudanese government that seemingly fears nobody.

Darfur, nearly the size of France, has an African Union force of about 7,000 whose original mission was to monitor the safety of the UN monitors, not to intervene in the violence. The mandate was later upgraded but not the size of the force. 7,000 AU troops in such a large space is like playing, "whack-a-mole" at the carnival; you hit one Janjaweed head and another pops up somewhere else. Additionally, it has been reported that the AU, who to their credit have piece-mealed together a force against great odds has only been performing roughly 20% of its assigned patrol missions because of weapons, aircraft, and transportation maintenance issues which is attributed to a fiscal shortfall. Not a good thing for the only force who bothered to show up to the genocide.

The AU deserves credit for its efforts, but they need support; professional support. Could the private sector provide that support. Certainly. Here are some thoughts on how the private sector can partner with many different government/NGO/IGO players under the right international mandate:

1. Provide basic aircraft/vehicle maintenance tasks; perhaps even provide air transport.

2. When the AU moves against and channels or defeats the Janjaweed militias, provide "trailers"; a security program that can set up protection of the displacement camps and villages and provide safety within those camps and villages. This secure space would allow humanitarians to do the work that many of them have been prevented from previously doing.

3. Provide on-site training and mentoring to AU forces and over the long-term, create public safety programs with and for the Darfuris themselves.

4. Invest, invest, invest... What creates sustainable economies is a combination of world aid (with benchmarks and metrics) and private-sector investment. From micro-lending to infrastructure planning, to small-business mentoring, the private sector can create momentum and sustainable results.

5. Long-term security sector reform models which can be somewhat modified and duplicated around the region.

OK, so now you say, "Well, it's now moot because there are going to be 20,000 peacekeepers there soon." True, but the legendary Marine and former Commandant, Gen Robert H. Barrow once said, "Success in battle is not a function of how many show up, but who they are." 20,000 ill-trained, ill-equipped, ill-motivated peacekeepers from varied third-world nations may not deliver the results that we should be demanding. Even with the numbers, you can still use the private sector for all of the things I listed above.

Additionally, there is a dangerous precedent being set in Darfur today. While hailing the fact that the Sudanese government has "accepted" 20,000 peacekeepers, we should also ask at what price? Have we been so captivated by process that we have forsaken innocent lives just to achieve an agreement with a government that has been hiding behind it's sovereignty? If so, who asked the dead if that was a fair deal for them?

Perhaps the private sector will not play a pivotal role in Darfur's security this time, but it will not be the only time "Never Again" will be challenged in the future. The responsibility to protect will be tested and an evaluation of the private sector's ability to respond to that test must be conducted today to prepare for tomorrow.