allAfrica.com: Sudan: Rebuilding Darfur (Page 1 of 2)

This is number thirteen in a series of articles concerning the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), explaining how different parts were negotiated, what the paragraphs mean, and how they should be implemented. This article focuses on the question of rebuilding Darfur.

The Movements' negotiators had two main worries in the talks. One was that Darfur is shattered and needs both immediate and long-term assistance to rebuild. More than two million refugees and IDPs need urgent assistance to return home; there are many areas that have been entirely cut off due to the war; and the basic infrastructure and livelihoods of the people of Darfur are devastated.

The second worry was that one historical reason Darfur's regional and state governments was because those governments rarely if ever received their fair share of funds from Khartoum. Almost as soon as a regional government was set up for Darfur in 1981, it was bankrupt. The story hardly changed over the following two decades. The amount due from the centre was small and what was actually delivered was always a fraction of what was due. Without any money, Darfur's governors and ministers were powerless to determine the fate of Darfur, and they were always prone to manipulation from Khartoum. The Movements' negotiators--led by Abu al Bashar Abbaker and Jibreel Khalil--insisted that this should never be allowed to happen again. On the GoS side, the negotiating team was led by Dr Lual Deng, who shared the same concerns. Dr Lual had also been closely engaged in negotiating similar provisions in the CPA and was therefore ideally placed to help craft the right mechanisms.

Darfur has immediate needs. The DPA has provisions for protecting humanitarian relief including the demilitarization of humanitarian supply routes (Paragraphs 282-286). Urgent programmes for return of IDPs and refugees are laid out in Paragraphs 176-213, which include the provisions for restitution and compensation (see articles 2 and 3 in this series). The Darfur Rehabilitation and Resettlement Commission is set up to implement this, with its tasks detailed in Paragraphs 182-197. The DRRC falls under the TDRA and will be headed by an appointee of the Movements. Paragraph 369 also calls for immediate measures to restore essential services to areas controlled by the Movements. Each of the Movements' negotiators can see their own handiwork in these paragraphs.

This article focuses on the longer-term rehabilitation and development provisions for Darfur. The overall aim is specified in Paragraph 104, which is the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The GoS and its international partners have pledged to achieve these goals by 2015. Goal 1 is to reduce by half the number of people living in extreme poverty and suffering hunger, compared to a baseline of 1990. We should underline that this is half the number in this condition in 1990, not the number today--Darfur must catch up on what it has lost before proceeding towards the goal. MDG 2 is achieving universal primary education for boys and girls. Number 3 is achieving equality between girls and boys in education. Goal 4 is reducing child deaths by two thirds compared to the level in 1990. MDG 5 is cutting by three quarters the number of women who die in childbirth. Number 6 is rolling back malaria and reducing the spread of HIV and AIDS. Goal 7 is ensuring environmental sustainability, and the final goal is building a partnership for development.

These details are not listed one by one in the DPA. But the MDGs are mentioned several times and this is what the GoS and the SLM of Minni Minawi have signed on to.

In the same way, the DPA does not provide a detailed blueprint for Darfur's infrastructural development. All Darfurians know that their region needs electricity, clean water and better roads. All Darfurians recall the promise of the Salvation Road--and the fact that it was never built. Darfurians anticipate that when Darfur is properly linked to the rest of Sudan, many social and economic benefits will follow. These details are not included in the DPA, but Paragraph 104 states that "A program for development of basic infrastructure shall be formulated to integrate Darfur with the rest of the economy." The DPA does not specify who must formulate the plan, but there is an underlying principle throughout the Agreement that the responsibility for implementing the DPA falls upon the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority, its institutions, and its Chairperson, who is also Senior Assistant to the President. It is fair to assume that this infrastructural programme should be formulated by the TDRA. As in so many aspects of the DPA, the crux is the implementation.

The key institution set up by the DPA is the Darfur Reconstruction and Development Fund (DRDF). This also falls under the TDRA and will be headed by a nominee of the Movements. Paragraph 153 provides seed money from central government of $300 million for 2006 and $200 million for each of 2007 and 2008. This amount is to be adjusted in accordance with the assessment of the Joint Assessment Mission (specified in Paragraph 103). The Movements' negotiators then raised the concern that they needed guarantees that the money would not dry up as soon as short-term donor projects were complete. Sub-paragraph (c) was therefore added, which commits the GoS to allocating enough funds to the DRDF to complete all the projects identified, until the end of 2015.

According to the DPA, Darfur's Joint Assessment Mission (D-JAM) is supposed to be set up and report to a donor conference within three months (i.e. by mid-August). At the Abuja talks, the Netherlands Government (represented by its Minister for International Cooperation and Development, Agnes Van Ardenne) offered to host this donor conference. The dates have slipped somewhat: the D-JAM began its work only in late June and the donor conference is now scheduled for October.

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