World Bank official visits Sudan to discuss joint cooperation
Jan 14, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A World Bank official, in a meeting with the local press here, said he is visiting the country to discuss progress of joint cooperation.
The Director of Operations in the Office of the Vice President, Africa Region, in the World Bank, Hartwig Schafer, said that the World Bank is collaborating very closely with the development partners to support the programmes of the Government of National Unity and that they are working to build strong partnership to support the Government of Sudan to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement(CPA).
The CPA saw an unprecedented cooperation among donors to support the CPA. The World Bank and UNDP co-lead a Joint Assessment Mission (JAM), which served as the blueprint for reconstruction and development in Sudan. The JAM was the basis for multi-sectoral collaborative work in technical and policy analysis and for building consensus and finalizing projections of Sudan’s financing gap.
Schafer expressed appreciation for the support by the international partners to the programmes for betterment of the life of the Sudanese people in the fields of education, agriculture, infrastructure and development of local communities, the state-run SUNA reported.
The World Bank official explained that the purpose of his visit to Sudan is to meet with the government at the national level and the Government of Southern Sudan to discuss progress of joint cooperation.
He said that he would meet during his visit to Juba Monday with senior officials in the Government of Southern Sudan, the Bank’s donor partners and the Bank Staff, adding that the focus of discussions will be the progress made for restoring infrastructure and basic service delivery to the population.
Following the signing of the CPA in 2005, two Multi-Donor Trust Funds (MDTFs) were set up, one to finance rehabilitation of war-affected areas in the North, and one for reconstruction and development in Southern Sudan.
The MDTF for Northern Sudan has received pledges totaling 195.1 million dollars, of which 113.7 million dollars has been paid, while MDTF for South Sudan has received pledges of 342.6 million dollars, of which 214.8 million dollars has been paid in as of December 31, 2006.
The World Bank reopened its Sudan office in 2005 after twelve years of absence because of Sudan’s default on its debt repayment. The World Bank has staffed two offices in Khartoum and Juba in order to meet the growing demand for assistance in implementing the two MDTFs.
(ST)