The United Nations Security Council has approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force to expand the 7,000 African Union (AU) force struggling to protect civilians in Sudan's western province of Darfur.
More than 2m people are living in camps after fleeing more than four years of fighting in the region and they are vulnerable without peacekeepers.
Sudan's government and the pro-government Arab militias are accused of war crimes against the region's black African population, although the UN has stopped short of calling it genocide.
New peace talks are planned, but peace still looks a long way off.
How did the conflict start?
The conflict began in the arid and impoverished region early in 2003 after a rebel group began attacking government targets, saying the region was being neglected by Khartoum.
The rebels say the government is oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs.
Darfur, which means land of the Fur, has faced many years of tension over land and grazing rights between the mostly nomadic Arabs, and farmers from the Fur, Massaleet and Zagawa communities.
There are two main rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), although both groups have split, some along ethnic lines.
Almost a dozen rebel groups now exist. Most will attend the talks in Libya, but one key leader, Abdul Wahid el-Nur, is boycotting the talks until the conflict ends.
