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USAID/OTI Sudan Field Report
August 2004
Program Description
Since 1983, an estimated two million Sudanese have died as a result of famine and a protracted conflict between the government and the southern-based Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). The country has also regularly been afflicted with inter and intra-ethnic tensions. Recently, however, several positive developments within Sudan have occurred, providing new opportunities to finally resolve Africa’s longest war and move the country toward a lasting peace. In May 2004, the Government of Sudan (GOS) and the SPLM signed the Naivasha Protocols for the resolution of conflict in the south and the transition areas. Negotiations are underway on a final comprehensive peace agreement outlining ceasefire arrangements and implementing modalities between the GOS and SPLM.
OTI’s programming in Sudan works to link ongoing peace processes, at the local and national level, to initiatives that promote increased participation of southern Sudanese in their governing structures. The OTI southern Sudan program has four main objectives:
- To support the emergence of responsive, effective, and inclusive civil authorities;
- To restore the conditions of peace within and among communities through support of opportunities for peaceful dialogue;
- To assist in the emergence of an empowered and active civil society;
- To increase access to quality, independent information.
OTI’s implementing partners are PACT and Educational Development Center (EDC). PACT manages the Southern Sudan Transition Initiative (SSTI) which is a two-year small grants program that focuses on promoting and supporting good governance, local-level peace initiatives, the development of civil society and an informative and balanced media. EDC has established the Sudan Radio Service which is a short-wave radio station that transmits six hours of programming daily on current events, civic education, health and culture in nine languages
Country Situation
NORTH-SOUTH PEACE TALKS – The momentum carrying the peace talks forward after the late May signing of the power-sharing protocols slowed considerably during August. Specifically, negotiations on the final ceasefire and implementing modalities have stalled due to disagreements between the GOS and the SPLM on how the national and southern Sudan armies will be funded. The SPLM has accused the government of Sudan of using the Darfur crisis to divert international attention away from the IGAD-sponsored talks.
RENEWED FIGHTING – In this environment of “no war, no peace”, renewed fighting occurred between the SPLM and a government backed militia on August 15, 2004. The conflict reportedly left 154 people dead in the village of Nimne in the Upper Nile region. According to the Sudan Mirror, an additional 550 civilians have been displaced and an SPLM official has requested the Verification Monitoring Team (VMT) to investigate the incident.
SOUTH SUDAN DEFENSE FORCES SUPPORT PEACE – The South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF), a pro-government militia, has released a statement announcing its full support for the Naivasha peace talks. The SSDF, an estimated 52,000 member army, stated its desire to be a third party in the security and military negotiations between the SPLM and government. Despite demands from several ‘third party’ groups to participate, talks have in the past been limited to the SPLM and the government.
JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES CLEAR LANDMINES – On a positive note, the GOS and SPLM this month carried out several joint exercises with international organizations to clear landmines. This operation is the first of its kind and is expected to take place in government and rebel-controlled areas of southern Sudan.
EBOLA OUTBREAK ENDS – In early August, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the end of the Ebola outbreak in southern Sudan. A total of 17 cases of the deadly hemorrhagic fever, including seven deaths, were reported in Yambio County. Dr. Abdullah Ahmed, head of WHO’s southern Sudan program, commended the rapid containment of the outbreak by the local health authorities and the international community.
USAID/OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
OTI’s August programming activities for each of its four objectives include:
- To support the emergence of responsive, effective, and inclusive civil authorities.
- Community leaders in Kapoeta town have requested assistance to plan for the reconstruction of community buildings, roads and other essential services. OTI awarded a grant to the Losolia Rehabilitation and Development Association (LRDA) to assist town planners to conduct an environmental impact assessment of Kapoeta. LRDA will also work with key stakeholders to form a planning and supervisory committee to ensure activities are in keeping with community needs and priorities
- To restore the conditions of peace within and among communities through support of opportunities for peaceful dialogue.
- OTI signed three grants focusing on conflict mitigation and the strengthening of local NGOs in the eastern Equatoria region of southern Sudan. The region is prone to violent conflict between ethnic groups over the use of common resources. The grants were awarded to local community-based organizations working to support peace-building initiatives through dialogue and good governance practices.
- To assist in the emergence of an empowered and active civil society.
- As part of its OTI-funded national protocol dissemination project, the National Working Group on Civic Education (NWG), conducted a training of team leaders from throughout southern Sudan. The participants, numbering over 50, were trained in community mobilization, public speaking, monitoring and evaluation and report-writing. The team leaders will travel to their assigned regions and organize a variety of community events designed to educate the public on the Naivasha protocols.
- A grant was awarded to a women’s group from the Upper Nile region to accompany trauma and psychosocial experts on a week long mission in Equatoria. The Bentiu Women’s Association for Relief and Development will have the opportunity to learn first-hand sound trauma assessment techniques and strategies for appropriate assistance from the mission/team. Participants will in turn carry out training and counseling within their own communities.
- OTI awarded two grants for women’s leadership training workshops in the eastern Equatoria and Bahr El Ghazal regions of southern Sudan. The workshops will focus on providing participants with key skills in advocacy, project management and conflict resolution. An increasing number of women’s groups are participating in grassroots-based peace dialogues and are enthusiastic about strengthening their capacities in these areas.
- To increase access to quality, independent information.
- The Sudan Radio Service has begun running public service announcements, created in conjunction with the Carter Center, on the dangers of guinea worm. Four ads were produced in each of the nine languages broadcast on SRS. The SRS Radio Programming Advisor has been invited to attend the Carter Center’s guinea worm program review meeting in Nairobi in October to discuss other areas in which SRS might collaborate with the Carter Center.
- On August 11, SRS aired the first of six peace protocol summary programs made in collaboration with the New Sudan National Working Group (NWG) on Civic Education. With support from OTI, the NWG is preparing a massive campaign throughout southern Sudan to disseminate information about the peace process. SRS is producing six programs in each of the nine broadcast languages, one program for each of the six peace protocols signed between the Sudan government and the SPLM thus far. Each program is a line-by-line summary of a particular protocol in very plain language. SRS will air the programs, one protocol per week, and also turn them over to NWG for mass copying and distribution on cassette tape. The tapes will then be used by NWG facilitators visiting communities throughout southern Sudan.
- OTI met with Africa Educational Trust (AET) on the development of a listening group project for the Sudan Radio Service. The project’s goal will be not only to receive constructive feedback on programming quality and content, but also to reinforce the information that has been disseminated through the radio programs. AET will hold further discussions with EDC and implementers of the short-wave radio service, and a tentative proposal is expected in early September.
- The Sudan Mirror received an OTI grant to produce a special English and Arabic edition of its bi-weekly newspaper on the Naivasha protocols to be distributed throughout southern Sudan. The grant is part of a larger initiative to support the dissemination of the landmark agreements that will hopefully bring to an end Africa’s longest-running war.
- SRS continues to expand its news coverage abilities and presence in Sudan. SRS has begun working with a new stringer in Rumbek and another in Cairo, Egypt. Rumbek is often thought of as the de facto capital of southern Sudan. Cairo is home to thousands of Sudanese refugees.
B. Grants Activity Summary
| Increase access to quality independent media |
1 |
$72,050 |
6 |
$312,279 |
| Support grassroots-based peace and conflict resolution initiatives. |
3 |
$150,455 |
27 |
$1,058,908 |
| Strengthen civil society and good governance practices |
5 |
$194,371 |
44 |
$1,887,236 |
| Total |
9 |
$416,876 |
77 |
$3,258,423 |
C. Indicator of Success
According to the Managing Producer of Sudan Radio Service, the chief political commissar of Radio Omdurman (Sudan’s government radio) indicated that SRS was forcing changes at Radio Omdurman. Stories that the state radio would earlier have ignored or reported in a particular way are now being reported or discussed more openly.
SPLM’s Local Governance Technical Team (LGTT) has been tasked to develop a strategic framework for local governance in southern Sudan. Through an OTI grant, the LGTT received technical assistance from a senior governance specialist and participated in study tours in Ethiopia and Uganda to examine local governance models in a federal system. The team members said that through the exposure visits they learned strong local governments are built on intensive civic education, a commitment to transparency, and rule of law.
D. Program Appraisal
OTI/Sudan continues to develop strategies to provide better programming while also providing improved data and reporting. With assistance from former OTI/Croatia staff, OTI/Sudan and PACT have increased the ability of the OTI database to provide timely accurate information for monitoring, evaluation, design, justification, financial oversight and review.
Overall programs in August were reflective of two slowing factors: the rainy season caused some areas to be inaccessible; and increased human resources were needed to work on the peace protocol dissemination project that will be brought into Phase II in September.
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
- The OTI/Sudan Deputy Country Representative will be traveling to Khartoum on September 4 to consult with UNICEF on their widely successful community radio listening group project.
- The launching of the Sudan Radio Service’s marketing campaign is scheduled to begin with a football tournament in the southern Sudanese town of Maridi in late September.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: Bailey Hand, Sudan Program Manager, Tel: (202) 712-0795, bhand@usaid.gov
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