Recovery plan to consolidate Sudan’s peace deal launched in Kenya
NAIROBI, Mar 9, 2005 (Xinhua) — A six-year recovery and development plan for Sudan was launched here Wednesday, marking the end of a one-year preparation for the post-war era.
The three volume document, dubbed the “Framework for Sustained Peace, Development and Poverty Eradication in Sudan,” is the outcome of the Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) organized by the United Nations and the World Bank.
The document was endorsed by delegations of the Khartoum government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) who reached consensus over the major development challenges facing the country, and reflected the spirit of the historic peace agreement signed by the two sides in January this year.
Addressing a jointly news conference in Nairobi, Norwegian Foreign Ministry senior adviser Fridtjov Thorkildsen said the program will be presented by Sudan’s newly-formed Joint National Transition Team at the first post-war international donors’ conference in April in Oslo, Norway.
According to the document, the total assessed needs through 2007 are about 7.8 billion US dollars (4.3 billion dollars for the North and 3.5 billion dollars for the South).
“The per capita expenditure in the South is considerably higher than that of the North. Of the total, only 2.66 billion dollars is being requested from the international community,” said Ishac Diwan, World Bank country director for Sudan and Ethiopia.
Diwan called on the international community to rally support for the program to enable the Sudanese meet immediate challenges during the transition period.
Sudanese State Minister and the government’s JAM team leader, Tag Elsir Mahjoub Ali said his country will contribute considerably more than the international community toward the pro- poor recovery program.
“This is not just a run-of-the-mill appeal document. It is a statement of intent and a political commitment on our part to be fully engaged in the reconstruction of our country. Yes, we need external assistance, but we will more than match that with our national resources,” Mahjoub said.
Kosti Manibe, the SPLM/A JAM team leader said “South Sudan has no hard roads, only rudimentary health and education facilities, and we are starting from a very low point in terms of human capacity.”
“However, with technical assistance combined with new oil wealth, we expect to catch up rapidly. Our emphasis is on combating poverty and many years of exclusion. The next era will be one of hard work, but also a great deal of enthusiasm,” Manibe added.
The JAM is divided into two phases: the first, from July 2005 through the end of 2007, represents immediate and detailed needs, particularly for the expected massive return of displaced people from inside and outside the country; the second, from 2008 to mid- 2011, is the period when many major infrastructural programs will be undertaken, and when Sudan can hope to meet some of the development targets represented by the international Millennium Development Goals.