It may be two years before Canada is approached for military support in the United Nations' peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region, says a UN watchdog group.

"In the short term, we will see appeals to wealthier western countries such as Canada for a minimum financial contribution and perhaps also logistics," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a non-governmental organization.

The UN Security Council unanimously voted Tuesday to authorize a force of up to 26,000 troops to protect civilians in violence-plagued Darfur.

Neuer said the force will primarily be made up of peacekeepers from African countries until assistance is sought.

"Its mission is to protect civilians in Darfur who have been subjected to mass rape, killings, displacement, to prevent armed attacks and to protect humanitarian workers," Neuer told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday from Geneva, Switzerland.

International Co-operation Minister Josee Verner said the federal government is willing to respond to any requests "in terms of humanitarian assistance," but she said it has not yet been asked to contribute either food or soldiers.

Verner, who's in charge of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), deferred questions on Tuesday about troops to either Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor or Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

Verner said CIDA is setting aside $125 million over five years for a UN-sponsored school food program, but the money will go to African countries other than Sudan.

The joint UN-African Union operation hopes to stem the violence in Darfur, a vast region in western Sudan where an estimated 200,000 people have died over the last four years and another 2.1 million driven into camps.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described Tuesday's move as "historic."

UN resolution number 1769 will allow peacekeeping troops to use force for self-defence, to allow humanitarian workers to move freely and to protect civilians under attack.

However, they won't be able to seize and dispose of illegal arms.

A threat of future sanctions against Sudan was also removed from the resolution, which had been watered down during negotiations.

The force will have up to 9,555 military personnel, consisting of 360 military observers and liaison officers; 3,772 international police, making up a civilian component; and 19 special police units with up to 2,660 officers.

The 6,000-plus strong civilian police is being called a "hybrid" force. They will replace a 7,000-member African Union force, which is widely seen as under-equipped and under-financed.

The new force is to establish its headquarters by Oct. 31 and assume control of operations by Dec. 31. However, Sudan has to approve units from individual countries. UN officials estimate it will take up to a year to get the entire force established.

The Darfur crisis erupted in early 2003. Rebels, mostly non-Arab, took up arms against the central government in Khartoum.

Civilians in Darfur came under attack from a horse-borne Arab militia called the Janjaweed. The resolution eliminated a specific mention of the group, which has been accused of murder, rape and burning villages.