UN launches appeal for 2003

The chance that a lasting peace agreement between the Sudanese government and southern rebels could be struck in early 2003 means humanitarian actors should be prepared in case an "enormous humanitarian undertaking" is needed, the United Nations said on Tuesday as it launched its US $255 million appeal for Sudan. While a peace deal would not immediately end Sudan's chronic "humanitarian disaster", it would make "new opportunities to support the people of Sudan and create the welcome challenge of moving from humanitarian relief to rehabilitation and rebuilding," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in the Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for 2003. Peace talks being held in Kenya under the auspices of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have raised hopes among aid agencies that Sudan's 19-year civil war could soon come to an end. The Sudanese government and the southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on Monday agreed to extend a cessation of hostilities agreement until the end of March 2003, and also signed an accord outlining the broad principles on which a post-conflict government would be based. Following a possible peace agreement and associated ceasefire arrangements, a transitional assistance programme would be required to support: agricultural recovery and food security; community peace-building; and large-scale support to key social services such as education and health, OCHA said. The Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) detailed in the appeal document provides a framework for undertaking key interventions, and outlines the most important elements of a first-phase transitional strategy. The 2003 appeal comprises 64 projects totalling US $255 million form nine UN agencies, the International Organisation for Migration and nine nongovernmental organisations. The projects are designed to meet four key objectives in 2003: saving lives and reducing human suffering; provision of essential basic social services; building capacity and resilience; and strengthening protection and grassroots peace-building mechanisms. Some US $274 million had been requested for this year under the 2002 Consolidated Appeal (and revisions), which was 45 percent funded as of mid-November. "Insignificant funding" had been cited by all agencies as the most significant operational constraint, OCHA said. Funding of food aid had fallen significantly in 2002, and there were currently insufficient stocks to sustain operations beyond a four-month period to meet minimum daily requirements of the most critically affected populations and to provide a buffer for early 2003, the report warned. In addition, the water and sanitation and health sectors, which were normally assigned high priority for donors, remained "dangerously under-funded" at 33 percent and 14 percent respectively, OCHA said. The 2003 appeal is targeted at interventions in 12 sectors, including: food (US $126 million); agriculture (US $19 million); education (US $9 million); health (US $24 million); mine action (US $7 million); and multi-sectoral programmes (US $32 million). "Helping the people of Sudan to rebuild will therefore be an enormous challenge and responsibility for the international community, which must give its full support to this process," OCHA said.