By Amjad Atallah Senior Director of International Policy and Advocacy, Save Darfur Coalition

That is the question every Darfuri living in a displaced person’s camp in Sudan or a refugee camp in Chad asks herself every time there is a “diplomatic breakthrough.” Every time diplomats congratulate each other, the people suffering on the ground rejoice, expecting some immediate improvement in their lives – perhaps better security, perhaps more food, or best, real peace that allows them to go back to their homes, to bring the perpetrators of injustice to account, and to begin the process of rebuilding their lives.

UN Security Council Resolution 1769, the resolution passed last week authorizing deployment of peacekeepers to Darfur, follows in a short series of diplomatic milestones. In May 2006, with the assistance of countries such as the United States, Nigeria, and South Africa, the Sudanese government signed the Darfur Peace Agreement with one Darfuri rebel group. The agreement called for the repatriation of Darfuris to their homes, disarming of the Janjaweed, and powersharing between Darfuris and the central government based in Khartoum. Despite the fanfare around the agreement, the violence got worse.

Last August, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1706, which called for the expansion of a protection force from Southern Sudan to Darfur in order, among other things, “to contribute towards international efforts to protect, promote and monitor human rights in Darfur, as well as to coordinate international efforts towards the protection of civilians with particular attention to vulnerable groups including internally displaced persons, returning refugees, and women and children.” It also called for the force to “facilitate and coordinate” the return of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Once again, despite the initial jubilation, the violence got worse.

It is up to us to work together now to make sure that this time, the UN Security Council Resolution is actually the beginning of the end of the genocide and not another mile marker in dashed hopes and more graves.

There is some reason to believe that this time will be different. The Resolution includes key measures long advocated by the Save Darfur Coalition. It relies on Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, mandates protection of civilians, and will operate under unified U.N. command and control. These and other elements make the resolution a promising basis for effective peacekeeping and protection for Darfur's people – but they cannot be effective without UN vigilance. Resolution 1769 can only be effective if UN member states match it with strong political will and work hard to recruit and deploy the thousands of troops and police it authorizes.

Even after deployment, the UN must make sure that its forces avoid the garrison mentality of so many UN peacekeeping missions. They can’t hunker down behind barbed wire and high walls. They have to be spread out among the communities they expect to protect and they have to be proactive in preparing for the inevitable challenges to their authority.

Late last year, we were told by displaced Darfuris and African Union peacekeepers in Sudan that paramilitary forces associated with the Sudanese government approached the Darfuri capital of El Fasher and, as a show of strength, surrounded a large camp filled mostly with women and children. The AU force did not have enough personnel to confront them and instead retreated to their barracks. The paramilitary forces did not raid the camp but simply made their point that they were in charge of the area. The Darfuri civilians were terrified and began developing contempt for the AU forces.

Now it will be time to for the UN-AU hybrid force to do the opposite. And in establishing their presence, the government of Sudan’s cooperation will be key.

This may be the first step in a political process to not only end the war but also to begin to rebuild Darfur. But it hasn’t happened yet. It is the tireless energy of the activists who have stood up for the people of Darfur that has brought Resolution 1769 this far. The same energy will ensure that it is implemented.

We cannot stop now.