USAID/OTI Sudan Field Report
December 2004
Program Description
The goal of OTI’s programming in Sudan is 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 four main objectives are to: support the emergence of responsive, effective, and inclusive civil authorities; restore the conditions of peace within and among communities through support of opportunities for peaceful dialogue; assist in the emergence of an empowered and active civil society; and, 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
Sudan/SPLM Sign Final Peace Agreement – The Sudanese government and the southern rebel movement signed a permanent cease-fire agreement and two annexes that outline implementing modalities for the peace plan. The final agreement, signed at a ceremony in Naivasha, brings an end to 21 years of conflict in Africa’s largest country. On January 9 a larger and more formal ceremony is expected to take place in Nairobi, after which the six-month pre-interim period officially begins. In this period, both parties are required to draw up a constitution for the government of national unity. The SPLM will prepare to move its offices into Juba, the new capital for the government of southern Sudan. The pre-interim period will be followed by a six-year interim period, after which the southern Sudanese will be able to vote in a referendum on whether to secede from the North. In this period, the power and wealth-sharing protocols will be implemented, allowing the south to tap into 49% of oil revenue and to retain 28% of the national parliament and cabinet positions. Under the security protocols, the Sudanese army must withdraw its forces from the south within 30 months. In addition, the SPLA is required to pull its forces from the north within eight months.
U.S. Congress Passes Sanctions/Aid for Sudan – The U.S. Congress approved $300 million to help victims of violence and support peace talks in Sudan. The bill authorizes $200 million in aid for refugees and the deployment of additional African Union peacekeepers in the region and sets aside another $100 million for peace dividends in the event that a final comprehensive peace agreement is reached between the Sudanese government and southern rebels. The legislation also sanctions the government of Sudan for its continued failure to intervene to stop the atrocities in Darfur, imposes an asset freeze on senior Sudanese officials and calls upon the President Bush to impose a travel ban on senior Sudanese officials.
SPLM Conference Seeks Unity – Following a conference that brought together over 200 senior military and political leaders, the SPLM asserted that the organization is more united than ever. The conference discussed changes necessary to transform the rebel group into the future governing body for the south. In another development related to the Rumbek meetings, a SPLM spokesman denied rumors that Commander Salva Kiir, the movement’s number two in command, is planning to split from the organization.
USAID/OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
In December, there was a general sense of optimism due to the anticipated signing of the final comprehensive agreement between the SPLM and the Sudanese government. The SSTI program issued 40 grants worth an estimated $1 million – by far the busiest month since the program’s inception. The increased activity in the small grants program is due to a convergence of various factors including positive momentum of previous initiatives, the relative stabilization of increasing parts of south Sudan and the launching of the extensive Naivasha protocol dissemination project.
OTI has thus far funded 29 local-level peace processes in all regions of southern Sudan and in the transition areas of Abyei, Southern Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains. The peace processes included local-level dialogues, conflict impact assessments and rapid response initiatives. Direct training of community members in conflict resolution skills has provided for a core group of men and women capable of working within their own communities to resolve conflicts as they arise. As a result, OTI’s interventions have promoted a constituency and a demand for grassroots peace building.
In December, grants were awarded to assist Sudanese NGOs in monitoring peace gains, convening inter-ethnic dialogues and the construction of peace/cultural centers. In most cases, the projects’ activities are directly related to outcomes of previous initiatives. For example, last year OTI funded a rapid response mission to Upper Nile to address an outbreak of violence between the Bor Dinka and Murle peoples. In response to requests from both sides of the conflict, OTI is supporting a peace monitoring team to ensure the safe movement of Murle traveling to Bor lands to access water.
There were a number of grants in December that consolidated and expanded grassroots peace achievements. In both the Equatoria and Nuba mountains, OTI supported the building of peace and cultural centers designed to strengthen ties between diverse communities and serve as a focal point of peace-building efforts. In Upper Nile and eastern Equatoria, local NGOs were supported in small-scale infrastructure improvements to roads that provide critical access for traders and international NGOs. In coordination with OFDA’s efforts to improve southern Sudanese access to clean water, OTI is supporting the rehabilitation and maintenance of boreholes in Upper Nile and Bahr el Ghazal. Improved access to roads and clean water are critical post-conflict interventions that underpin peace and reduce conflict at the grassroots level.
With hopes for an end to years of conflict and instability, Sudanese women are mobilizing to play a greater role in political and social life. OTI awarded five grants to local women’s organizations to support a regional conference, human rights training and various income-generating activities. The micro enterprise initiatives include the provision of equipment and training for the use of grinding mills and brick-making machines in Equatoria and Bahr el Ghazal.
OTI awarded several grants in December designed to improve the rule of law sector in southern Sudan. In Upper Nile, 60 paralegals will be trained and six legal aid centers established. The centers will provide legal assistance and arbitration services to the community. In the absence of genuine rule of law institutions in southern Sudan, customary law has played a vital role in conflict management and resolution and there is some debate on how to incorporate traditional law into a formal legal system. In Equatoria, OTI awarded a grant to the Toposa Development Association to bring together local government officials and civil society to identify appropriate customary laws and examine the role of chiefs in the legal system.
The OTI-funded Sudan Radio Service (SRS) is increasingly becoming the go-to source for international media interested in timely news on southern Sudan. SRS stories are regularly cited in the BBC’s monitoring reports and have been picked up by the Associated Press. Media in the Arab world, such as the widely read Asharq Al Awsat newspaper, have also sourced SRS reports. Khartoum-based Blue Nile TV, Sudan’s first private television station, interviewed SRS staff for a profile on the radio service. In preparation for the anticipated signing of the peace agreement, SRS’s programming in the last week of December focused on the political and social impact of the agreement in southern Sudan. On the day of the signing, SRS reporters were on the scene in Naivasha to bring detailed coverage and interviews with key personalities. Because most of the BBC’s news coverage that day focused on the aftermath of the tsunami disaster in Asia, many Sudanese relied on SRS to get the latest updates from Naivasha.
The long-awaited MOU between USAID/REDSO and the Kenyan government was signed in early December. The agreement will allow USAID implementing partners based in Kenya, yet programming in neighboring countries, to receive tax/duty-free status and staff work visas. Both of OTI’s implementing partners, PACT and EDC, will benefit greatly from the MOU.
B. Grants Activity Summary
| Promote emergence of responsive, effective and inclusive civil authorities. |
3 |
$ 39,793 |
27 |
$1,188,551 |
| Provide opportunities for peaceful dialogue within and among communities. |
8 |
$ 199,689 |
45 |
$2,188,345 |
| Promote the emergence of an empowered and an active civil society. |
11 |
$341,578 |
44 |
$1,277,373 |
| Increase availability of quality, independent information. |
18 |
$ 475,575 |
32 |
$4,657,834 |
| Total |
40 |
$1,056,635 |
148 |
$9,312,103 |
C. Indicator of Success
Issues of land allocation, infrastructure development and provision of basic services are now being examined and discussed by local authorities and civic leaders in various communities throughout the south. OTI provided technical assistance to the Department of Housing, Survey and Town Planning for mapping and surveying of Kapoeta town in eastern Equatoria. The town was chosen because of the sustained population growth it has achieved due to its relative peace and stability. The result is that local officials are now responsibly and effectively planning for the construction of community buildings, roads and other essential services.
D. Program Appraisal
With the signing of the final peace agreement between the SPLM and the Sudanese government, the OTI program is reviewing programming options to be responsive to immediate transition needs in the pre-interim period. A local consultant who was recently hired to help strengthen the program’s monitoring and evaluation system, is being assisted by OTI/Sri Lanka’s monitoring and evaluation specialist.
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
- Country representative to visit Khartoum and meet with State and USAID officials.
- OTI staff will accompany team from Regional Inspector’s office into southern Sudan.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: Nhelly Saleh, Sudan Program Manager, Tel: (202) 712-0795, nsaleh@usaid.gov
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