The Oslo pledge: When will they be honoured?

By The Khartoum Monitor

Oct 31, 2005 — We wonder what pledges really mean. We thought a pledge is a promise made to be promptly honoured. It is now almost seven months now since the G8 committed themselves to help South Sudan rehabilitate itself after the wanton destruction of war.

The first vice- President and president of the government of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit reportedly, said nothing has been forthcoming from the pledges made by donor countries during the Oslo Conference held earlier this year.

Earlier, the vice- president of the government of South Sudan Dr Riek Machar, was on record for saying, only sixty million US dollars have so far reached the World Bank.

Of course when the pledges were made, the situation in South Sudan was desperate and today it is even more desperate as returnees are coming home in their hundreds. The cabinet that has been formed is in trouble because the members lack accommodation. Roads, electricity, running water, medical facilities and even food are not there.

It appears the donors were just cushioning the leaders of south Sudan to form the government and later depend on the oil money. But this oil money remains a fictitious commodity since a commission is yet to be formed and what not. But for how long will the suffering people keep waiting? South Sudan is caught between the G8 and the NCP, which keeps dodging issues. This is serious.

If this is the course of action taken by the G8, we wonder whether the four million internally displaced and the thousands of South Sudanese refugees will ever be repatriated. We also wonder whether any meaningful development will take off in South Sudan within the six-year interim period. This inaction on the part of the G8 has dashed hopes.