afrol News - US$ 4.5 billion to reconstruct Sudan

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Sudan
Economy - Development | Politics
US$ 4.5 billion to reconstruct Sudan

Vice-President Ali Osman Taha:
ŤThis has been a landmark conference for Sudan.ť
Š afrol News
afrol News, 12 April - The Oslo donor conference for Sudan, which ends today, has been a record-breaking success. While Sudan and the UN had asked for a total of US$ 3.6 billion, international donors have pledged to give even one billion more. SPLM leader John Garang is now sure that the process of reconstructing South Sudan will go ahead speedily.

A total of 60 states and international institutions have been gathered in the Norwegian capital to promise a financial all-out effort to consolidate Sudan's north-south peace. Norway's Development Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnson, the host of the conference, this afternoon announced that the session had been a marvellous success. A total of US$ 4.5 billion was pledged from international donors to help Sudan.

The government of Sudan and the southern SPLM ex-rebels earlier last month jointly studied the reconstruction needs for war-ravaged Sudan. A 64-page study concluded that a total of US$ 7.9 billion was needed to build basic infrastructure and social services in soon-autonomous South Sudan and other war-ravaged provinces in the vast country.

Khartoum estimated it could contribute with US$ 5.3 billion - mostly from future oil revenues - to finance this joint reconstruction. The remaining US$ 2.6 billion bill was sent to potential donors. In addition, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday announced that the UN still needed US$ 1 billion to finance its large-scale humanitarian operations in Sudan, mostly focused on Darfur.

SPLM leader Garang, who will join the new national unity government in Khartoum in June, today was very satisfied with the results from the donor conference. Yesterday, before pledges started coming in, the southern leader outlined the need to give southerners a basic infrastructure such as roads, railways, health services, schools and security.

The ex-rebels had already started reconstructions on a small scale despite the lack of international funds until now, Mr Garang said. "More than 120 kilometres of the road from Kenya to Juba [in South Sudan] have already been rehabilitated," according to the SPLM leader. Further, constructions on the South's new capital have started and the yet-to-come government of South Sudan has advanced plans for reconstruction.

Mr Garang noted that it was now urgent that pledges were translated into cash very rapidly. Refugees and displaced were already
SPLM leader John Garang
SPLM leader John Garang:
ŤMoney has not come yet, but we are already working.ť
Š afrol News
returning to South Sudan in great numbers, encouraged by the January north-south peace deal. However, there were no institutions to receive them, provide them with safety, water, food and education. Mr Garang and the conference's organisers agreed that real money needed to start flowing into Sudan right away.

There was great concern that despite the large pledges, funds would not materialise, as had been the case in other post-war situations. The UN's humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, announced that the pledges would be published on the Internet, side by side with the actual funds paid out by donors. Mr Garang said he follow up on donors, as would the World Bank and the Norwegian government.

Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha today called the donor conference "a landmark" in Sudanese history, just due to the fact that 60 countries and institutions had come to Oslo and discussed Sudan's problems during two long days. He added that the best way to assure that donor pledges was realised was by implementing the projects foreseen and thus showing donors there was real success on the ground.

Only representatives from civil society were somewhat sceptical to the results of the donors' conference. While welcoming the great results measured in numbers, representatives from Sudan's civil society deplored the very limited influence they would have on future spending. Further, some delegates complained, there had been no safeguards that the human rights situation would improve in North and South Sudan.

Representatives of the donor community, the Khartoum government and the SPLA indeed only engaged on discussions regarding the human rights situation in Darfur. Vice-President Taha emphasised that his government indeed wanted to persecute war criminals in Darfur and that 17 suspected war criminals already had been arrested. He further announced that the Sudanese government was willing to restart the Abuja (Nigeria) peace talks with the Darfuri rebels right away, looking for a political solution to the conflict.