Eastern Sudan Poverty Alleviation and Peace

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KHARTOUM 001088

SIPDIS

AIDAC
SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AF/EA, DCHA
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS
USMISSION UN ROME
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
NAIROBI FOR SFO
NSC FOR JMELINE, TSHORTLEY
USUN FOR TMALY
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI KAWC SU
SUBJECT: Eastern Sudan Poverty Alleviation and Peace
Building Conference - Port Sudan, April 30-May 1, 2006


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Summary
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1. From April 30 to May 1, 2006, the U.N. Development
Program (UNDP) convened an eastern Sudan poverty
alleviation and peace-building conference in Port Sudan,
Red Sea State. The conference was attended by donors,
U.N. agencies, non-government organizations (NGOs),
community based organizations (CBOs),and the walis
(governors) of Red Sea and Kassala States. Following
initial scene-setting presentations, the various state
governors in attendance presented their program needs and
funding requirements. In the discussion that followed,
one donor linked international assistance to eastern
Sudan to the resolution of conflict in Darfur, a comment
which sparked tense exchanges between conference
participants. The final communiqu produced by
conference participants revealed the walis' anger toward
the lack of funding pledged to the east at the meeting.
A final private meeting between donors and state
authorities mitigated this tension, but the meeting ended
on a bitter note. End Summary.

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Conference Participants and Initial Dialogue
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2. From April 30 to May 1, 2006, representatives from
the international donor community, U.N. agencies, NGOs,
CBOs, and Red Sea and Kassala State and local governments
gathered in Port Sudan to discuss poverty and peace-
building in eastern Sudan at a conference convened by
UNDP. Participating donors included the European Union
(EU),U.K. Department for International Development
(DFID),Netherlands, Italy, USAID, and the World Bank.
The major U.N. agencies represented at the conference
included the U.N. World Food Program (WFP),U.N. Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO),and U.N. Children's
Fund (UNICEF). Local authorities participating in the
conference included the walis, cabinet leaders, tribal,
and popular leaders from Red Sea and Kassala States.


3. The UNDP representative, Mr. Jerzey Skuratowicz,
opened the conference by linking the meeting to a series
of ten preparatory workshops previously organized by the
Kassala and Red Sea State governments with support from
UNDP, CBOs, and NGOs. Each state hosted five workshops
where participants engaged in broad discussions
concerning possible solutions to alleviate poverty and
advance the peace-building process in eastern Sudan. Mr.
Skuratowicz called for the adoption of a coordinated
approach that follows the national development plan for
the region and stressed the necessity of assessing the
successes and failures of past interactions.


4. Sara Pantuliano, the UNDP consultant for the east,
stressed the complexity of human suffering and the
fragility of living conditions in the east. She observed
that the majority of interventions over the last 15 years
have been small in scale, short-term, and focused on
emergency needs. She called for new thinking to outline
a holistic, large-scale sustainable development plan for
the east in order to address the deep-seated livelihood
crisis currently gripping Red Sea and Kassala States.


5. The Wali of Kassala State, Ibrahim Mahmoud, reviewed
the major humanitarian crisis facing Kassala: hosting
refugees and internally displaced persons, sustained
drought conditions, and flooding along the Gash River.
He observed that although the problems resulting from
refugee flows are the responsibility of the international
community, donors have failed to commit the necessary
level of financial resources to support refugee
assistance programs. He added that donors should focus
on rehabilitation and development to take advantage of
the historic opportunity created by the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the longest-running war
on the continent. He noted that development initiatives
could not begin until peace prevailed throughout the
region and urged the international community to pressure

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the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to withdraw
completely from the east. (Note: The JEM is a rebel
group from Darfur which has mobilized elements in the
east and recently perpetrated 2 security incidents in
eastern Sudan. End note.) Finally, he reported that
Kassala State has received armed forces from the Umma
party, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA),and the
NDA El Fateh that have recently withdrawn from the Hamesh
Koreib enclave and Eritrean border areas, and is also
willing to "receive Eastern Front troops."


6. The Wali of Red Sea State, Mohamed Tahir Eila,
summarized the humanitarian challenges facing Red Sea
State: drought and desertification, conflict, lack of
health and education services, and the mechanization of
Port Sudan which resulted in increased unemployment rates
among Beja laborers. He added that the current
government of Red Sea State is a national unity
government composed of nine different parties. He talked
about government interventions in the service sector and
education, as well as government plans to establishing
model villages. He called for a partnership between the
state government, U.N. agencies, and NGOs to alleviate
poverty and advance peace in Red Sea State.

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Kassala and Red Sea States Appeal for Foreign Assistance
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7. Two proposal papers, one for Red Sea State and one
for Kassala State, were presented to the donors. The Red
Sea Sate paper proposed a variety of projects in health,
education, agriculture and food security, local
government and civil service, social affairs, culture,
information, youth and sports, and urban planning at an
estimated cost of 220 billion Sudanese Dinars (SD),or
roughly one billion U.S. Dollars. The Kassala paper
opened by highlighting the fact that the CPA targeted 70
percent of national development and reconstruction funds
toward the least developed states in North Sudan,
including Kassala. The paper focused on the following
themes: basic social services, productive sectors,
infrastructure, livelihoods and social services,
governance and rule of law, monitoring and evaluation,
information systems, and capacity building,
decentralization, and statistics. The Kassala State
government estimated the cost of the proposal at 2.5
billion U.S. dollars and promised to finance 30 percent
of the total budget.


8. The presentation of the Kassala and Red Sea State
proposals was followed by general discussion among
conference participants. The following comments emerged
during the discussion:

a) The administrative costs for NGOs working in the east
are very high, leaving a relatively low percentage of
funds for actual service delivery to project
beneficiaries.

b) Despite the fact that Red Sea State has the highest
infant mortality rate in Sudan, UNICEF does not maintain
a presence in the east.

c) Peace must be achieved in eastern Sudan prior to the
implementation of any proposed humanitarian assistance
programs. Without peace, humanitarians cannot gain
stable access to beneficiary populations.

d) The Rashaida tribe, a marginalized ethnic group in
the east, was not well represented at the conference.

e) Red Sea State received no revenue from French gold
mining operations in the state. Sharing of revenues with
the state government would alleviate the need for donor
assistance from the international community.

f) The two papers were extremely ambitious with huge
budgets. The budget figures should be more realistic.

g) A successful food-for-education program in Red Sea

KHARTOUM 00001088 003 OF 004


State should be strengthened.

h) The majority of students in eastern Sudan cannot
afford to pursue higher education.


9. Donors held group discussion meetings with UNDP and
representatives from each of the two state governments.
Participants agreed that the papers were very broad and
needed a greater focus on priority areas for
intervention. Stakeholders also agreed to undertake an
additional needs assessment in order to develop a
strategic plan which would be collectively owned by the
wider eastern Sudan community including government, CBOs,
NGOs, and donors.

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Donor Response
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10. Donors presented five key lessons to the conference
participants:

a) Peace: All parties must work to end conflict and
realize a firm peace throughout eastern Sudan.

b) Dialogue: A two way interchange of information is
needed. Donors and authorities need to listen to each
other and should look for ways to optimize their
partnership. Donors offer more than money, and could
provide technical assistance, experience, and lessons
learned from other countries.

c) Planning: Planning should be based on good
information. What are the targets? How do they match
the Millennium Development Goals? What social indicators
should be used? What is the long term plan/strategy for
the East? How can the information collected in the Joint
Assessment Mission be used in the planning process?

d) Services: Health and education services should be
free for the poor.

e) Coordination among donors is very much needed.


11. In presenting the donors' points, the DFID
representative put forward some observations:

a) The world looks at Sudan through the lens of Darfur.
Sudan must bring the conflict in Darfur to an end if the
country desires increased development assistance.

b) The Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) urges the
Government of National Unity to provide the bulk of
development assistance to the east. Under MDTF
guidelines, the international community's contribution
toward development in the east may not exceed five
percent of the proposed budget.

c) A key lesson learned in other countries was the need
to stop corruption before it starts.


12. Local authorities at the conference reacted very
negatively to the DFID representative's comments,
claiming that:

a) The donors are politicizing humanitarian work by
linking assistance to the East to the conflict in Darfur.

b) The MDTF's offer to fund only five percent of
development assistance is extremely low. If this sum
indeed represents the donors' maximum contribution, the
east does not need it.

C) Donors did not come to the east to teach local
authorities how to combat corruption.

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Final Communiqu
--------------


13. The final communiqu was drafted under a tense

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environment and delivered by Musa Shash, Red Sea State
Minister of Finance. The communiqu stated that "the
participants of the eastern Sudan conference for poverty
alleviation and peace-building were very much
disappointed by the fact that the donors have apologized
to provide any funding to the east for the time being."


14. The Wali of Red Sea State officially announced the
end of the conference. He extended his thanks to all
participants, claiming that the conference was a good
brain-storming session. He added that one lesson learned
from the conference was that "we should depend on
ourselves and invest our resources and we should not
depend on others."


15. The donors interpreted the final communiqu and the
wali's closing speech as an insult. They called for a
private meeting that was attended by representatives of
the EU, DFID, Italy, USAID, UNDP, WFP and the Red Sea and
Kassala State Ministers of Finance. Following a frank
nk
and transparent discussion, the participants agreed on
the following:

a) The great needs for continued support from the
international community to Red Sea and Kassala States.

b) Donors will continue to fund current NGO and CBO
assistance programs in Red Sea and Kassala States.

c) Donors and the two state governments will continue
their dialogue over foreign assistance to the east.

d) State authorities will work to improve the working
environment for humanitarian organizations operating in
eastern Sudan.


16. Comment. Although the final meeting was courteous,
the donor participants departed feeling that the poverty
alleviation conference had failed to achieve a positive
dialogue between state and local authorities and the
international community. The two governments agreed to
issue a press release including the agreements listed
above. However, these results have yet to be broadcast
to a wider audience, a failure which may illustrate the
governors' difficulty in addressing a population that
feels their high expectations and aspirations were not
really addressed by the conference. End comment.

STEINFELD