SUDAN - World Bank Holds Preparatory Meeting for

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000290 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: SUDAN - World Bank Holds Preparatory Meeting for Sudan Consortium ¶1. On February 7, The World Bank convened a meeting to brief donors on the progress toward preparing the Sudan Consortium meeting in Paris on March 8 and 9, 2006. Charge and USAID rep attended. The meeting was co-chaired by the Norwegian Ambassador, the Joint National Transition Team (JNTT),and Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) representatives. ¶2. The JNTT, representing the Government of National Unity (GNU),reported that they are working on the following items in preparation for their contribution to the meeting: -- Finalizing inputs to the tracking matrix designed to track the Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) -- Preparing summary of progress on implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) -- Updating Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) operations -- Tabulating commitments to the U.N. Work Plan -- Calculating the financing Gap. ¶3. The JNTT representative Dr. Tag el Sir reminded the audience of the new role that has been assumed by the JNTT by Republican Decree issued at the end of 2005, namely: -- to solicit, monitor, and expedite aid; -- to organize conferences; -- to follow up on the implementation of the CPA in coordination with the Assessment and Evaluation Commission (AEC); and -- to coordinate with international organizations to ensure interventions are part of government's strategic plan. He reminded the group that non-MDTF donors (amongst whom are the U.S. and the EC) should coordinate all funding with the JNTT before any coordination is undertaken with the MDTF oversight committee. ¶4. The GOSS, represented by the Minister of Finance, indicated the GOSS priorities that will be reflected in meeting documents, namely agriculture, human resource capacity building, infrastructure, and institutional structures for governance. Further, he reported that: -- the interim constitutions for the states are now under preparation and moving along well. -- a local government framework has been established and a decentralization workshop has taken place. -- the budget for 2006 will be presented to the GOSS assembly by March. The GOSS expects 1.3 billion in oil revenue, complemented by about 200 million from donors, for a total of 1.5 billion available in 2006. -- the headcount of the civil service had begun with the deadline of end February to complete the payroll. ¶5. The World Bank representative highlighted key points from the work of the staff assessment by World Bank, IMF, and United Nations that is currently underway. The Bank noted that macro-economic performance remains "strong" in Sudan and that "pro-poor" spending planned for 2006 has significantly increased over 2005 levels. In addition, the Bank highlighted that resource transfers to the states including oil revenue to the GOSS will be vastly increased under the GNU's 2006 budget plan in keeping with the CPA. Areas of concern for the GNU include: Darfur, operationalizing the CPA, transparency in the oil sector, and increasing support to the three areas. Areas of concern related to the GOSS include: civil service capacity building, management of public finance, decentralization, and developing a regulatory and legal framework for private sector investment. ¶6. The GNU reported that the government delegation to the Paris meeting would be led by a senior official, likely First-Vice President Kiir. The GOSS said the same. The World Bank announced that the Vice President of the IMF would attend. The SRSG will represent the U.N. delegation and the development minister will lead the Norwegian delegation. Other donors were encouraged to send high-level delegations as well. The Bank announced that invitations and a final agenda would be sent out by February 7 or 8, ¶2006. KHARTOUM 00000290 002 OF 002 ¶7. Although Darfur was not a specific agenda item of the February 6 meeting, the EC noted that it would be difficult for the commission to attract new pledges for Sudan in Paris until the problem of Darfur is solved. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, one of the SPLM representatives on the JNTT, Kosti Minibe, said that he understood that Darfur was of concern to the donors but hoped the Darfur "situation" would not overshadow the March meeting. He assured the donors that the government would provide an update on the political negotiations as an agenda item in Paris. Charge followed up, noting that even though Darfur is not a specific topic in Paris, the spectre of Darfur will inevitably influence the meeting. JNTT member Sir said that he had recently visited Darfur and after meeting with many people, came away with the belief that if the government could provide "some services" this might make a huge difference in solving the problems of the region. ¶8. Comment: The World Bank has set aside only 45 minutes on day one of the conference to tackle both an update on the CPA and the status of peace talks in Darfur. With the current security situation deteriorating visibly throughout Darfur, new displacements of populations occurring, talks reportedly stalled in Abuja, and the HAC cracking down on NGOs with lame bureaucratic impediments (septel),Darfur could indeed become the "Banquo's ghost" of the Paris meeting. HUME