No.: 03/03
The Sudan Working Group of donors and
international organizations met in Oslo January 9 and 10 to discuss planning
for peace in Sudan. Participants included the troika (U.S., UK and Norway),
Canada, Denmark, European Commission, Greece (as EU Presidency), Italy,
Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the UN Special Envoy for Humanitarian
Affairs, UN agency representatives and the World Bank. The meeting was
opened by Her Excellency Hilde F. Johnson, Minister for International Development.
The discussion focused on the status of the peace talks led by IGAD in
Kenya; structure and coordination of international assistance; and planning
of assistance for immediate humanitarian needs, quick impact projects following
a peace agreement, and the transition to development aid.
This is an ongoing effort to coordinate assistance to Sudan. It follows meetings in New York and Geneva, as well as a December meeting in Washington where the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement agreed to jointly develop a work plan for the pre-interim period that will follow a peace agreement. The working group considers this commitment a very positive development and looks forward to the two sides' joint input into the donor coordination efforts.
The Working Group agreed to continue these coordination meetings in support of the IGAD peace process and welcomed the offer of the Netherlands government to host a further meeting of donors in the Hague in March. The Group looks forward to further progress from the resumption of the peace talks in Kenya in mid-January, and from the meeting of the Technical Committee on Humanitarian Affairs in Nairobi January 18-20.