The African Development Bank (AfDB) signed a €3.3 million grant protocol agreement on 24 May with the Republic of Sudan for a water project that will support conflict resolution and peace-building in Darfur.
The signing ceremony was presided over by Sudan's state minister of finance and national economy, Magdi Yassin, together with the minister of water resources, Seifeldin H. Abdalla. The AfDB was represented by its resident representative for Sudan, Abdul B. Kamara, and staff from the AfDB's Sudan office. Several other dignitaries, policymakers and technocrats attended the ceremony.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Kamara said that the grant was approved from the AfDB's African Water Facility as part of its targeted support to Sudan. He reiterated that the project will finance water investment planning, priority rehabilitation work and capacity building to meet water and sanitation needs in some 15 to 20 towns in Darfur.
This will entail the de-silting and rehabilitation of water boreholes and the construction of new ones in selected locations in Darfur to prepare for the return of displaced populations, as well as studies that will generate a pipeline of investment projects in the water sector there. The objective of the project is geared towards meeting the immediate and longer term water and sanitation needs of the people of Darfur.
Mr Kamara added that the five-year project was designed to achieve an optimum impact within its relatively limited resources in comparison to overall needs.
In this context, the project will act as a catalyst to leverage the USD 50 to 100 million funds needed by the towns in the longer term, through the preparation of bankable investment plans for funding;
It will also meet priority water and sanitation needs for domestic and livelihood purposes in a carefully selected group of three to six model towns. Also, through the piloting of innovative approaches to the implementation of the priority works, the project will demonstrate how to meet all types of water needs in an integrated manner;
In addition, it will build the capacity of the state water corporations and communities to sustainably manage their water resources and deliver effective water and sanitation services, and to implement the downstream works, through a comprehensive capacity building programme.
In his opening remarks, Mr Yassin commended the AfDB for its exemplary role in financing the development of Darfur's water sector, and highlighted other key areas of the AfDB's recent engagement, such as debt management, rebuilding of flooded schools in Khartoum and capacity building.
The president of the Darfur Regional Authority, Al Tejani Al Sisi, commended Mr Kamara and his team for their excellent work, and expressed hope that the AfDB would scale up its investment in Darfur in the near future. The AfDB reiterated its commitment to continue supporting Sudan during this difficult period in the country's history.
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Abdul Kamara
