EU resumes development aid

Following the signing of a comprehensive peace accord between the government of Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on 9 January, the European Commission (EC) has agreed to start releasing European development funds to Sudan, which had been frozen since 1990. A "country strategy paper" for Sudan, drawn up by the EC in consultation with the GoS and SPLM/A, was signed on Tuesday in Brussels by Sudanese Minister for International Cooperation Yusuf Sulayman Takanah and European Commissioner for Development Louis Michel. The signing of the strategy paper, which determines priorities for development cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Sudan, paves the way for the resumption of EU-Sudanese development cooperation. "Although the EU provided 500 million euros (US $648,650,000) in humanitarian assistance since 1992, official EC [European Commission] development assistance to Sudan was halted since 1990, as a result of the government's human rights record," Dex Agourides, EC liaison officer for Sudan in Nairobi, told IRIN on Wednesday. Under the 2002 Cotonou Partnership Agreement with the African, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) countries, the EU reserved approximately 400 million euros in development assistance for a 2002-2007 programme for Sudan. "This commitment was made as a sign of political support for the peace process, but this envelope didn't open until now," Agourides explained. "Now that the country strategy paper has been signed, this money will become available." "The bulk of this money, equally divided between north and south Sudan, will go towards food security and education, while there will also be funds available for good governance, internally displaced persons and institutional support," he added. Upon signing the strategy paper, the EC agreed to provide 50 million euros (just under US $64.7 million) in immediate financial aid. The release of the full amount of 400 million euros (just over US$ 50.8 million), it said, would depend on progress in the implementation of the southern peace agreement, as well as the restoration of peace in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. The international community will convene a donors' conference in Oslo, Norway, tentatively scheduled for 11-12 April, to pledge extended support to Sudan. Donor countries will base their support on an evaluation of northern and southern Sudan's reconstruction needs, currently prepared by the Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) of the UN and the World Bank. The World Bank plans to manage foreign donations for Sudan through two multi-donor trust funds - one for the north and one for the south. While January's peace agreement ended a war in southern Sudan that left more than two million people dead and displaced nearly four million others since it began in 1983, it does not cover the conflict in Darfur, which pits rebel groups against the GoS and allied militias. The agreement includes provisions on power-sharing, some autonomy for the south and more equitable distribution of economic resources, including oil.