Norway and Sweden to participate in Darfur donor conference
April 3, 2013 (KHATOUM) – Norway and Sweden will attend Darfur donors conference scheduled to take place this week in the Qatari capital Doha on 7 and 8 April.
Tadjadine Bechir Niam, Minister of Reconstruction, Development and Infrastructure in Darfur Regional Authority (DRA), led a delegation to the two Scandinavian countries to brief them about the International Donor Conference for Reconstruction and Development in Darfur (IDCRDD), and to invite them to participate.
Speaking from Oslo on Wednesday, Niam said they are heading to Sudan after informing officials in Norway and Sweden about the projects they need donors to fund during the two day conference.
“We are mobilizing all our energies and efforts to ensure a successful meeting in Doha as we believe that this conference will allow the international community to reaffirm to its support to our efforts to make peace a reality in Darfur” he said.
DRA infrastructure minister said they discussed the political situation in the country and the ongoing efforts to end violence in Darfur. He stressed that a peaceful settlement of the conflict remains the best option to pave the way for democratic transition.
He said they explained the Darfur needs and invited the different officials and aid groups to read a report detailing recovery and reconstruction strategy which gives indications about financial resources needed to implement these projects.
Asked on how donors can contribute, Niam underlined that they have no model to impose but contributors can adopt the best ways to implement the projects they pledged to fund.
Some donors prefer to implement the projects they commit through their own organisations or NGOs from their countries, while others prefer to give their financial contributions to the World Bank or the UN agencies which implement these projects.
Also, Sudanese government, Darfur Regional Authority and the state of Qatar plan to propose to establish a mechanism allowing donors to follow the implementation of projects they pledge to finance.
EU and United States asked Sudan to allow aid groups to resume their activities in Darfur after complaining from tough restrictions imposed by the Sudanese security service. However to avoid such hurdles the Sudanese presidency formed a technical committee to deal with any obstruction they face.
The Sudanese delegation was composed of Zainab Bakheit finance ministers of Central Darfur state , Adam Mohamed Adam, finance minister South Darfur state, and Youssef Abdo Dawood finance minister in North Darfur.
On Wednesday, DRA chief Tijani Al-Sissi ended a visit to Moscow where he invited the Russian government to the donor conference.
(ST)