Putting Darfur on the agenda

last updated 8 January 2015

Paris

Diplomats from 20 nations met this week for a one-day conference on ending the crisis in Darfur that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. The meeting was hosted by new French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has made Darfur one of his top priorities. “Silence kills,” said Sarkozy. “The absence of a response is unacceptable.” He pledged $13.5 million to help African peacekeepers in the region and called on Sudan to allow a much larger force of United Nations soldiers into the country. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed Sarkozy’s call for greater engagement by the international community. “Ultimately this is going to come down to will,” she said.