United Nations (CNN) -- A quartet of special representatives went before the United Nations Security Council Monday to brief members on political and humanitarian challenges in Sudan -- particularly the war-torn Darfur region -- as the country nears a referendum in early 2011 that could see Africa's largest nation split in two.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki currently serves as the African Union (AU) chairperson for Darfur. He was joined at U.N. Headquarters in New York by U.N. Special Representative Halie Menkerios, joint U.N.-AU envoy Ibrahim Gambari, and chief U.N.-AU mediator for Darfur, Djibril Bassole.
Mbeki expressed the necessity for cooperation, allowing the organizations to "coordinate their actions and support one another" in an effort to implement the five-year-old Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
The CPA was signed in 2005 between Southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Northern Sudanese Government in Khartoum. It was supposed to end decades of violent civil war, promising shared oil revenues, democratic governance, and paving the way for the South to vote on secession in January 2011.
UK Ambassador Lyall Grant said the coming months would represent a "defining moment" both for Sudan and for the Security Council. "With over 30,000 peacekeepers on the ground" throughout the country, Grant said the Council "has more invested in Sudan than in any other agenda item".
"There is no greater challenge facing the Security Council over the next 12 months than supporting the parties in securing peace and prosperity for the people of Sudan," he said.
