AFRICOM PAO note: The following article, by the U.S. Department of State, is provided for public awareness of U.S. policy in Africa. As a military organization, U.S. Africa Command does not lead U.S. foreign policy but instead supports policies articulated by elected civilian leaders. Time is growing short before Sudanese national elections in April and everyone involved must intensify efforts to implement the remaining provisions of a 5-year-old peace agreement to end the violence and suffering of the people of Sudan, three senior foreign ministers said in a joint statement January 8, 2010. "High levels of violence and displacement in south Sudan in 2009 and continued violence against civilians, widespread insecurity and humanitarian concerns in Darfur show that much more work is needed to bring the peace and stability the Sudanese people deserve," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, and British Foreign Minister David Miliband. Clinton unveiled a "comprehensive" U.S. policy toward resolving the conflicts in Sudan October 19, 2009, that focused on ending human rights abuses and genocide in Darfur in western Sudan and fully implementing the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the south. January 9 marks the fifth anniversary of the peace agreement. "The conduct of credible elections is vital to the process of democratic transformation, a cornerstone of the CPA," the three foreign ministers said. "The parties must also begin discussions and negotiations on long-term issues that will arise irrespective of the referendum outcome — oil revenue-sharing, security arrangements, citizenship issues and many others." Clinton, Miliband and Støre acknowledged that considerable progress has been made toward implementing the agreement, but they called on all parties in Sudan to work intensely over the final year to address the remaining challenges. "Ultimately, issues concerning Sudan's future must be resolved by the Sudanese themselves," the three officials said in their joint statement. "We pledge our governments' active commitment to support efforts for peace and stability in Sudan." Clinton said separately January 8 that the National Congress Party and the SPLM must be willing to reach compromises and commitments that are needed to build confidence and achieve stability so that there can be a lasting peace. "The parties of Sudan cannot afford to delay and there can be no backtracking on agreements already reached," Clinton said. "The risks are too serious: Renewed conflict between North and South would prolong human suffering and threaten stability and peace throughout the greater region." U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration told reporters at a briefing January 8 at the State Department that he will be traveling to the region at the end of January, going to Kenya and Uganda and attending the African Union Summit, and will be back in Sudan by the middle of February. "There's a lot of issues that we're working hard, but it makes sense for me to go back in February," Gration said. "The one thing [Sudanese officials] must remember is that these are the first elections that have been held since 1986. So we have a gap of almost 24 years since we've had this kind of transformation that we're seeing right now." He said the national elections this year and the independence referendum for Southern Sudan in January 2011 are an opportunity for the people of Sudan to determine their future. Nearly 79 percent of eligible voters have registered to vote in the elections, he said. "We believe that the election gives us an opportunity to practice those elements that will be so important in the referendum," Gration said. The situation in Sudan has emerged as one of the largest and most devastating humanitarian crises of the 21st century. More than 20 years of fighting between the government and the SPLM killed more than 2 million people, and key portions of the 2005 CPA remain unfulfilled and represent "a dangerous flashpoint" for future armed conflict, Clinton said in October. In addition, Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and government-supported militia launched a genocidal campaign in 2003 against ethnic groups affiliated with a potential rebellion in Darfur, killing hundreds of thousands, displacing 2.7 million people and creating more than 250,000 refugees. Sudan's current president, Omar al-Bashir, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for his alleged role in the Darfur genocide. Gration said the United States' strategy for Sudan has three major goals: ending the genocide in Darfur, fully implementing the CPA so it results in a peaceful Sudan, and preventing Sudan from becoming a terrorist safe haven. "Failure to accomplish these goals could bring about additional suffering, further regional instability or new safe havens for international terrorists," Gration said in congressional testimony December 3. Gration said the United States continues to work closely with the African Union and the United Nations, meeting frequently with envoys from Britain, China, France and Russia (who are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council along with the United States) and the European Union to coordinate efforts. He said they met most recently in Moscow and in Abuja, Nigeria, to coordinate positions on fulfilling the Doha Peace Process on Darfur. As a result of efforts to make the peace process work, eight former rebel factions have formed a coalition and are committed to having a wider unification, he added. Throughout the peace process, the United States will continue to support and strengthen the African Union–United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Gration said. That means, he added, holding those who obstruct UNAMID's work accountable and providing direct financial and logistical support for UNAMID's full deployment. UNAMID is planning contingencies for potential worsening of the crises in Darfur, he said. PEACE AGREEMENT The United States and the international community are focusing on a comprehensive approach to peace in Sudan, and that requires full implementation of the CPA. In Khartoum, the two parties to the CPA -- the National Congress Party and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement -- continue their discussions to resolve key outstanding issues relating to the national elections in April and the January 2011 referendum in southern Sudan and Abyei. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which is sometimes called the Naivasha Agreement for the place where it was signed, set a series of agreements between the SPLM and the Sudanese government. It was intended to end a two-decade-old civil war between the North and the South, help establish a democratic government and provide for sharing oil revenues. It also set a timetable for southern Sudan to hold a referendum on its independence. The current coalition government ends in 18 months with the southern referendum. Gration said the two most pressing issues are the use of contested census results for voter registration in the upcoming elections, and disagreements on procedures for the referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan.