1 Introduction
The Sudan National Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF-N, or ‘the Fund’) was established in April 2005 following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which effectively ended 20 years of conflict in the country. The MDTF-N’s programming priorities are based on the Joint Assessment Mission (JAM), which assessed the needs of Sudan for the interim period following the peace agreement, as well as the Framework for Sustained Peace, Development, and Poverty Eradication that was jointly developed with Sudanese government authorities. The goals of the MDTF-N are centred on the consolidation of peace and pro-poor growth in an effort to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and ensure a sustainable peace in the country, focusing many of the project activities on the Three Transitional Areas: Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Working primarily through government counterparts, the MDTF-N has implemented a portfolio of 15 projects worth US$584.63 million1 since 2006 over a broad spectrum of sectors, including infrastructure, health, education, community development, agriculture, and public sector reform.
With eight of the MDTF-N’s projects closed and seven remaining in the final stages of implementation, the MDTF-N is projected to close on 30 June 2013. In light of the MDTF-N’s closure, the Oversight Committee and staff of the Fund’s Technical Secretariat (TS) commissioned an independent evaluation to capture and preserve the institutional knowledge, experiences, capacity, and lessons learned by the various stakeholders involved with the operation of the MDTF-N since its inception. This report presents the findings of that evaluation, explores the lessons learned as conveyed by the numerous stakeholders involved in the Fund at national, state, and locality level, and offers recommendations for the remaining operations, as well as a road map for the post-MDTF-N environment.