KEN RAMANI and REUTERS
Sudanese minister of State Yahya Hussein (left) and a senior United Nations official, Jon Bennett addressing the media yesterday in Nairobi after the launch of a six-year recovery plan for the new Sudan following the end of the 21-year civil war. A new six-year recovery and development plan for Sudan was launched yesterday in Nairobi.
The move marked the official end of a one-year preparation for the post-war era for a new Sudan.
The document: The Framework for Sustained Peace, Development and Poverty Eradication in Sudan, is an outcome of a Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) organised by the UN and the World Bank.
Teams led by the government of Sudan and the Sudan Peopleís Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) reached a consensus over the major development challenges facing the country, and reflected the spirit of the historic peace agreement signed in January in Nairobi.
The document addresses eight areas including capacity-building, governance and rule of law, economic policy, infrastructure, productive sectors, social protection and livelihoods, basic social services and information.
The Joint National Transition Team (JNTT) will hold the first post - war international donors pledging conference between April 11 and 12 in Oslo, Norway.
UNís Jon Bennett explained that the Oslo meeting will bring together 55 delegations including the Arab League, African Union, Igad, UN, EU, donors, civil societies, among others.
The funds required will address development concerns in war-affected areas of North and South Sudan.
The total assessed needs through 2007 are about $7.8 billion ($4.3 billion for the North and $3.5 billion for the South). The per capita expenditure in the South is considerably higher than that of the North.
Of the total, only $2.66 billion is being requested from the international community.
Sudan itself will contribute considerably more than the international community towards the pro-poor recovery programme.
Tajelsir Mahjoub, the government of Sudan JAM team leader said: This is not just a run-of-the-mill appeal document. It is a statement of intent and a political commitment on our part to be fully engaged in the reconstruction of our country. Yes, we need external assistance, but we will more than match that with our national resources?"
JAM is divided into two phases: the first, from July 2005 through the end of 2007, represents immediate and detailed needs, particularly for the expected massive return of displaced people from inside and outside the country; the second, from 2008 to mid-2011, is the period when major infrastructural programmes will be undertaken, and when Sudan hopes to meet some of the development targets represented by the international Millennium Development Goals.
Kosti Manibe, the SPLMís JAM team leader, says south Sudan has no hard roads, only rudimentary health and education facilities.
Sudan


The Joint Assessment Mission between the World Bank and the United Nations released on March 9, 2005, a plan for the development of Sudan over the six years remaining between January's peace agreement and the vote in 2011, in which southern Sudan will decide whether to break away from the north. The plan, titled "Framework for Sustained Peace, Development and Poverty Eradication in Sudan," describes two phases, the first through 2007, the second through mid-2008. The first phase will focus on emergencies and the repatriation of refugees, while the second will consist of "major infrastructural programs", according to the Sudan Tribune.

While the majority of the $7.8 billion needed for the development described in the plan will come from sources within the country, the plan asks for $2.66 billion from other countries. According to Reuters, the UN's Joint National Transition Team will hold a conference to ask for money in Norway in April.