[JURIST] International donors and African countries meet Thursday to discuss increasing their support for the African Union's peacekeeping efforts. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and AU Chairman Alpha Oumar Konaré will host the conference, which will bring together officials from the United States, European Union countries and African nations to increase support for the African Union mission in Sudan (AMIS) for Darfur. The African Union [official website], a 53-member pan-African body, is seeking $480 million from various international sources to triple its peacekeeping presence in Sudan's Darfur region. The AU has deployed 2,300 troops to monitor the cease-fire in the region that has lost 180,000 people to disease, famine and violence. Reuters has more.