Events Archive
Darfur: Public Diplomacy makes a welcome return
Chargé d’Affaires Cameron Hume led an Embassy delegation to the Darfur region February 12-15. Ambassador Hume met with the Wali (Governor) of North Darfur State, and hosted a pair of roundtable discussions in El Fasher, North Darfur State’s capital. The first included the deputy vice chancellor of El Fasher University and several deans, while the second event brought together members of the Darfur Forum -- civil society and peace activists from the region. Ambassador Hume also visited Darfur’s other state capitals, Nyala (South Darfur) and Geneina (West Darfur), focusing on the humanitarian situation, the political process, and the peacekeeping and security developments.
In addition, the Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer visited El Fasher University where he consulted with the vice chancellor and deans and made a book donation to the university’s library. PAO also called on North Darfur’s Minister of Education, the head of Radio El Fasher, and a nongovernmental organization that provides rehabilitation services to torture and sexual violence victims in Internally Displaced Camps. The Sultan Ali Dinar Palace Museum offered a private tour of its facility.
As the PAO noted in an interview with correspondents of the Arabic daily newspaper “Al Rai Al Aam” and the Sudan News Agency, the visit marked the first concerted effort to conduct public diplomacy in El Fasher in many years. Darfurians generally expressed enthusiasm about the prospects for renewed educational and cultural cooperation between the United States and their region. El Fasher Radio reported on the visit.