United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1706
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1706
United Nations resolution adopted in 2006
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1706, adopted on August 31, 2006, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Sudan, including resolutions 1556 (2004), 1564 (2005), 1574 (2004), 1590 (2004), 1591 (2005), 1593 (2004), 1663 (2006), 1665 (2006) and 1679 (2006), the Council expanded the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) to include deployments in Darfur to enforce the Darfur Peace Agreement.[1]
Strongly rejecting the resolution, Sudan had refused to participate in the Security Council session. Resolution 1706 was adopted by 12 votes in favour to none against and three abstentions from China, Qatar and Russia;[2] all three said that while they supported the contents of the resolution, it lacked consent from Sudan.[3] Given that the deployment was dependent on agreement from the Sudanese government, the resolution marked the first time that a United Nations peacekeeping mission was authorised but failed to deploy.[4] It was also the first armed conflict in which the Security Council had invoked the "responsibility to protect" resolution.[5] On July 31, 2007, the adoption of Resolution 1769 finally authorised a peacekeeping mission for Darfur.