Oscar winning actor George Clooney has been a passionate activist for Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region as well as many other causes and now, as he’s returned from a two week trip to Sudan, Chad and the Congo with the UN’s Assistant-Secretary-General of Peacekeeping Operations Jane Holl Lute, he visited the United Nations in New York apppointed by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as Messenger of Peace.

Clooney said:

“When I stood in the hospital next to women who had been raped and set on fire two days earlier, they looked up to me and said, ‘Please send the U.N.’ - not the U.S., not China, not Russia - just the U.N. You are their only hope… Let us be clear, as we traveled to north, south and west Darfur - in el-Fasher, Nyala and Zalengi - there was not one man, woman or child at any of these camps, at any of these locations who did not hold the government of Sudan or its Janjaweed-supported militia responsible for them being displaced…. These [UN] peacekeepers are not an occupying force, they are not there to spread democracy or infringe on religious belief….. It’s China that can hold the Sudanese government to the commitments it made to the UN and to China specifically,” … The international community looks more and more to China [China, as a close ally and trading partner of Khartoum government controlling Sudan] for leadership and with that comes great responsibility.”

In Darfur, Clooney reports that the Sudanese government tried, but failed, to show them that the international community had treated the government unfairly and accusations of atrocities are exaggerated.

Clooney said that the biggest issue that the UN Peacekeeper’s face is the issue of equipment - particularly the need for helicopters - for the newly deployed African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur. The vast country lacks sufficient roads and helicopters are badly needed and Clooney is urging member states to equip the troops properly.

Clooney continued by saying that there is only one chance to get it right in Darfur and only the United Nations can help on this scale. Clooney said he is proud to be a messenger of peace and that his message is: “the world is watching and you cannot afford to fail.”