KHARTOUM, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The tripartite mechanism of Sudan's government, the United Nations and the African Union on Monday approved a joint work plan stipulating gradual withdrawal of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) from many areas in the region.
The tripartite mechanism on Monday held a meeting in Khartoum and reviewed the situations in Darfur with the focus on UNAMID's exit strategy from the region.
"At the end of the meeting the heads of the three delegations signed a joint communique," said Sudan's Foreign Ministry in a statement.
"The communique reiterated full improvement of the security and humanitarian conditions in all Darfur states, and approved the recommendations earlier agreed upon which stipulate gradual exit of UNAMID from many areas and restructuring of the mission," added the statement.
In February 2015, a tripartite committee composed of Sudan's government, the UN and the African Union, was formed with the aim to reach a deal on UNAMID's exit from Darfur.
UNAMID took over the peacekeeping task in Darfur from the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) on December 31, 2007.
The UNAMID is considered as the second biggest peacekeeping mission in the world, after the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It consists of over 20,000 personnel of military, police and civilian components, with a budget of 1.4 million U.S. dollars in 2013.
