Sudan not making payments to Darfur fund mandated by DPA – UN
February 18, 2008 (UNITED NATIONS) — The UN-AU joint mission in Darfur (UNAMID) confirmed that Khartoum is not remitting payments to a special Darfur fund per a peace agreement signed in May 2006.
The Inner City Press online website has asked UNAMID to confirm reports that the Sudanese government is not paying money to the Darfur Reconstruction and Development Fund (DRDF).
The DRDF was formed under the terms of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) to administer development projects in the region.
UNAMID told Inner City Press that the DPA states that Khartoum must “transfer from the National Revenue Fund into the Darfur Reconstruction and Development Fund an amount equivalent to $300 million for the year 2006, not less than $200 million in 2007 and not less than $200 million in 2008”.
The UNAMID response quoted the DPA implementation team as saying that “as of 05 February 2008, and apart from providing funds to cover the operational expenses of the DRDF, the GoS [Government of Sudan] has not paid any money into the DRDF.”
Last October Al-Tigani Abdullah, a senior adviser to the leader Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) leader by Minni Minawi told Sudan Tribune that the Sudanese government “violated the terms of the DPA by not contributing funds to the Darfur Reconstruction and Development Fund. He said that Khartoum pledged to provide $700 million over three years in accordance with the DPA”.
“Sudanese officials told us that security is now a priority over the development projects. We told them that insecurity will continue if people don’t feel an improvement in their lives” he added.
The Inner City Press reporter suggested that the UN withheld the info from the public for political reasons.
“The UN is saying that the al-Bashir government is more than $500 million behind in its payments. Why is the UN not saying this louder?” he said.
In May 2006, the SLM signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) with the Sudanese government and its head Minni Arcua Minawi was appointed as the senior assistant of the Sudanese president in August.
Minnawi’s faction has grown increasingly frustrated with Khartoum’s negligence of the DPA and hinted that it is prepared to consider certain steps in its next meeting of the revolutionary council, the highest executive body in the movement, if the Sudanese government continues to stall on the implementation of the DPA.
International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the conflict, which Washington calls genocide, a term European governments are reluctant to use. The Sudan government says 9,000 people have been killed.
(ST)