30 May 2006

UN Humanitarian envoy visits NATO News 30/05/2006 - NATO Press release on Mr. Egeland’s visit Background NATO’s assistance to the African Union for Darfur NATO-UN cooperation Assistance to Pakistan The United Nations Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, discussed Darfur and the role of the military in disaster relief during a visit to NATO on 30 May. Mr Egeland met NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to discuss NATO’s continuing support for the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Darfur. Focus on Darfur NATO recently agreed to extend its assistance to the African Union until September this year. This Alliance is helping to airlift African Union peacekeepers in and out of Darfur and training its forces. They also discussed likely NATO support for a possible UN-led peacekeeping mission in Darfur, after the mandate of the current African Union force ends in September. Mr Egeland also raised the possibility of future military assistance to humanitarian missions. In October 2005, the Alliance launched a massive airlift operation to help deliver United Nations relief supplies to the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Pakistan.