A/HRC/4/80 page 21 of new institutions, and significant capacity building at all levels of government. If followed through, these could contribute to effective decentralization and equitable resource allocation which in turn would be important elements of a long-term resolution to the existing conflict in Darfur and potential conflicts in other parts of the country. 63. Other UN efforts have included a dedicated special procedure of the Commission on Human Rights and its successor the Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Sudan since 1993. The Special Rapporteur has undertaken field visits and reported to both the Commission and the Council and the General Assembly on the situation with recommendations for action to promote and protect human rights. In addition to the Sudan country mandate of the CHR/HRC, special rapporteurs and independent experts for thematic areas relevant to the crisis in Darfur have undertaken fact-finding missions to Darfur and made numerous recommendations since 2004.28 United Nations human rights treaty bodies have also made countless recommendations to the Sudan.29 B. Efforts by the African Union 64. In its communiqué of 25 May 2004, the AU Peace and Security Council requested the AU Commission on the Situation in Darfur to take all steps deemed necessary to ensure an effective monitoring of the Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement of 8 April 2004 through the deployment of an Observer Mission, with a civilian component and, if necessary, a protection element, to support the work of the Ceasefire Commission. 30 65. In October 2004 the AU Peace and Security Council agreed on an enhanced AMIS mission. The mission was further mandated to improve the security situation in Darfur and oversee the safe return of refugees and IDPs to their homes. Tasks included: “Protect civilians whom it encounters under imminent threat and in the immediate vicinity, within resources and capability, it being understood that the protection of the civilian population is the responsibility of the Government of the Sudan”.31 Positive protection initiatives have included proactive 28 The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on internally displaced persons, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences and the Independent Expert on the human rights situation in the Sudan. See www.ohchr.org. 29 For example, in 2002 the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed its concern that the large majority of the concerns and recommendations adopted on October 1993 (CRC/C/15/Add.6) following the Sudan’s initial report (CRC/C/3/Add.3) on the issue have been insufficiently addressed. In 2007 the Committee on the Rights of the Child (optional protocol) and the Human Rights Committee will review the periodic reports of the Sudan and its obligations under those instruments. 30 African Union, Peace and Security Council, Communiqué of the Solemn Launching of the Tenth Meeting of the Peace and Security Council, (PSC/AHG/Comm.(X)), 25 May 2004. 31 African Union, Peace and Security Council, Communiqué, (PSC/PR/Comm. (XVII)), 20 October 2004.