UN urges donors to pledge funds for reconstruction

The UN will do its utmost to support the rebuilding of Sudan once a peace deal has been signed, said Mohamed Sahnoun, the special adviser to the UN Secretary-General, on Friday. "The United Nations will do everything possible to garner maximum international support for the implementation of a future peace accord and the reconstruction of the country," Sahnoun told delegates at 10th regional summit of the Inter-Government Authority on Development (IGAD) being held in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Sahnoun said that during meetings held in Oslo in January and in The Hague in April, donors had shown a "commendable readiness to meet the future Sudanese peace agreement with critically needed resources". At the IGAD conference, Norwegian Minister for International Development Hilde Frafjord Johnson pledged an undisclosed sum of money for the implementation of Sudan’s truce. "Plans are already in place to fund the implementation of a peace deal in Sudan," she said. "After the signing of the peace deal, Oslo will hold a donors' conference on Sudan with a view to raising funds to facilitate its implementation." But Frafjord Johnson added that it was up to the countries of the region to work towards a lasting peace in Sudan, as well as in other IGAD member countries. She singled out northern Uganda as one of the areas needing urgent attention. "Uganda is taking over the IGAD leadership at a crucial point, with the conflict in the northern region dragging on, which requires peaceful resolution," she said. "We urge President Museveni to give in to dialogue without any conditions."