U.S. pressing for allied assistance at Sudan donors' conference
Sudan-USA, Politics, 4/9/2005

The U.S. government hopes to use the international momentum of humanitarian and development assistance in response to the tsunami disaster in South Asia to spark a similar outpouring of support for Sudan at an international donors' conference in Oslo, Norway, April 11-12.

But a failure by the Sudanese parties, the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), to live up to the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement might seriously undercut donor generosity, it warned.

At an April 8 press conference at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, a senior U.S. government official, who wished to remain unnamed, said that 400 representatives from the governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) of 70 nations have signed up to attend the Oslo meeting.Ê The hope is that billions of dollars will be raised both for emergency aid to stem the growing humanitarian disaster in Darfur and to repair an infrastructure dismantled by 21 years of civil war.

Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick will lead the U.S. delegation to the conference, spearheading the move to increase worldwide assistance to Sudan following the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) January 9 that ended hostilities between the northern and southern regions of the country.Ê Zoellick is also scheduled to visit Sudan following the conference to highlight American commitment to the region.

The U.S. official said an economic assessment mission that was sent to Sudan "estimates that for the first two and a half years É [Sudan] needed two and a half billion dollars for recovery and reconstruction.Ê That does assume a fair amount of oil revenues transferred to southern Sudan will go towards those needs as well."

Asked by a journalist if any oil funds had been delivered to the South, the official said that about $1 billion was being held in escrow by the Khartoum government as part of a revenue-sharing protocol under the CPA.Ê It is expected the funds will be disbursed during the summer when a new constitution and interim North-South government are set in place.

At the same briefing, another unnamed senior U.S. government official worried that, with the CPA seriously behind schedule, a failure to speedily implement provisions for a new constitution and government of national unity could undermine donor assistance to the ailing nation.

At Oslo, he said, "we can deliver a very high-level message [to the Sudanese parties] that says: 'We stand behind the Comprehensive Peace Agreement [CPA] in a very practical way.Ê We're prepared, and we will make a very sizable pledge, but we're concerned that we're not on schedule. ÉÊ You did originally say that by the 9th of July a constitution would be in place, there would be a position for John Garang [SPLM/A leader], a vice presidency, and John Garang, hopefully, would be É in Khartoum.Ê And there would be a transition government.Ê Here it is in April and an interim constitution hasn't been done yet.'"

In addition, he said, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur "continues to cast a large shadow" over the CPA, and "needs to be addressed."Ê He cautioned: "The U.S. has been in the forefront of the international community in providing aid to Darfur."Ê However, "if this situation continues to worsen, neither we or others will be able to effectively support the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in the style in which we were hoping."

Over the past three years, the United States has committed more than $1.6 billion dollars to Sudan, $600 million of which has gone for emergency humanitarian aid to Darfur, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Previous Stories:
  International community must act on Darfur, says Rice   (4/2/2005)
  U.S. decision on U.N. Darfur resolution difficult, Burns says   (4/2/2005)
  Sudanese restrictions on the movement of American diplomats   (3/18/2005)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search