USAID/OTI Sudan Field Report
June 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. A comprehensive peace agreement outlining ceasefire arrangements and implementing modalities between the GOS and SPLM is expected to be signed this summer. Through a separate funding mechanism, OTI is also providing assistance for the Darfur crisis, including support to collect, share, analyze and disseminate information on human rights abuses.
OTI’s programming in southern 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 assist in the emergence of an empowered and active civil society; to restore peace among communities through support to local dialogues; to support the emergence of an accountable, engaged and transparent civil authority; and to increase access to quality, independent information.
OTI’s implementing partners in southern Sudan are PACT and the Education Development Center. PACT manages the Southern Sudan Transition Initiative (SSTI), a two-year small grants program promoting good governance, local-level peace initiatives, the development of civil society, and an informative and balanced media. Education Development Center (EDC) has established the Sudan Radio Service, a short-wave radio station that transmits six hours of programming daily on current events, civic education, health, and culture.
Country Situation
The crisis in Darfur continued to receive world-wide attention in June with the visits of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Secretary of State Colin Powell and a congressional delegation to the region. Both Annan and Powell pressured the Sudanese government to end attacks by the Janjaweed militias, provide full access for humanitarian aid, and restart political talks with rebel groups in Darfur. Possible sanctions against Sudan were also threatened if there was no progress by Khartoum to reign in the militias. The government of Sudan has thus far pledged to work with the international community in addressing the humanitarian and political crisis in Darfur.
In Kenya, the SPLM and Sudanese government returned to the negotiating table to work out cease-fire arrangements and implementing modalities for the recently signed Naivasha Protocols. In the South, SPLM Chairman John Garang toured the region to “sell” the peace agreement and to address concerns of the community on what the future holds. He spoke to large crowds on his vision for “new” Sudan and emphasized the need for transparency and accountability in the government structures that will emerge.
In another public outreach effort by the SPLM, over 350 chiefs and traditional leaders attended a conference on the Naivasha protocols and the future of southern Sudan. In the two-week conference, which took place in the southern Sudanese town of New Site, the chiefs expressed support for the peace protocols and offered recommendations on their future role in local governance and south-south dialogue.
USAID/OTI Highlights
A. Grant Program Activities
A brief summary of OTI’s June programming in each of the four main objectives:
- Assist in the emergence of an empowered and active civil society
- A PACT/OTI grant facilitated the dissemination of the Naivasha Protocols by local NGOs in the three transition areas of Southern Blue Nile, Abyei and Nuba Mountains. Elders and community and church leaders gathered to be briefed on the agreements and voice their concerns with the SPLM negotiating team present at the meetings.
- Restore peace among communities through support for local dialogues
- The Gajiok-Gaguang Peace Committee, a team consisting of elders, church leaders and intellectuals of Gajiok and Gaguang clans, was awarded a PACT/OTI grant to prepare for an upcoming conference on this long-running intra-Nuer clan conflict. The team will also disseminate the Naivasha Protocols to the community.
- Through a PACT/OTI grant, a peace delegation was sent to the eastern town of Akobo following a confrontation between Government of Sudan-backed militia and the SPLM last month. The crisis was diffused when the civilian population pressured the militia to withdraw from the town. The Akobo County Commissioner has requested assistance to send a mission of key Akobo elders to the area to enter into dialogue with the militia on the current political climate and the Naivasha Protocols.
- Tensions among the Luo, Fertit and Dinka communities in Bahr El-Ghazal have long been exacerbated by the larger conflict between the GOS and the SPLM. With the signing of the Naivasha Protocols, there is now an effort by local groups to address the long-standing grievances within the community. A PACT/OTI grant was awarded to a local NGO to organize a peace and recovery conference that seeks a comprehensive resolution to the inter-ethnic conflict and to outline a joint way forward for a sustainable peace.
- Support the emergence of an accountable, engaged and transparent civil authority.
- SPLM representatives discussed the Naivasha Protocols in large town hall meetings in the three transition areas. Representatives responded to queries about the complex power-sharing arrangements spelled out in the agreements. In addition, the SPLM took feedback from the meetings to the final round of negotiations in Kenya.
- Increase access to quality, independent information
- In June, the Sudan Radio Service (SRS) unveiled its new website (www.sudanradio.org) that makes available programs on demand in nine languages. Feedback from listeners around the world has been quite positive.
- In programming related to governance and civil society, the SRS sent reporters to cover OTI/PACT-sponsored town hall meetings in three transition zones. A reporter also accompanied SPLM Chairman John Garang on his tour of southern Sudan to explain the Naivasha Protocols.
- Other topics covered this month include natural resource and wildlife protection, the perspective of Sudanese women on the peace accords, and challenges facing the elderly in Sudan.
Grant Program Expenditures
OTI PACT Southern Sudan Transition Initiatives small grants program has reached a total of $2,373,860 in expenditures with seven grants in June grants totaling $215,150.
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
- Travel for Deputy Country Representative into Sudan for closing ceremonies of Chief’s Conference.
- EDC/OTI trip to Sudan to launch SRS outreach campaign.
- Prepare for TDY of OTI Senior Field Advisor John Rigby for technical assistance to OTI Sudan Program.
- Plan strategy for OTI assistance on dissemination of the Naivasha Protocols throughout southern Sudan.
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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