2006 Work Plan for Sudan launch in Geneva

More than US$ 1.5 billion in humanitarian needs; Largest funding requirement in the world
[2 December 2005 GENEVA] Sudan will need more than US$1.7 billion dollars to fund humanitarian, recovery and development projects in 2006, according to the UN Work Plan for Sudan, launched today by the country's Special Representative to the Secretary-General (SRSG) Jan Pronk and Deputy SRSG and Humanitarian Coordinator Manuel Aranda da Silva.

While US$212 million will go toward recovery and development projects designed to start the massive rebuilding of the country's destroyed infrastructure, the vast majority of the funds - more than US$1.5 billion - is required for the United Nations and its partners to fund humanitarian activities for large numbers of the population still in considerable need, nearly one year after the peace.

On 9 January 2005, the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), formally ending Africa's longest running civil war. The twenty-one-year war resulted in the largest internally displaced population in the world and inflicted an enormous human cost on the people of Sudan. Since the signature, the two parties have formed the Government of National Unity (GoNU) and the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), the two structures on which Sudan's six year interim period will be based.

Despite this progress, Sudan still faces enormous humanitarian and recovery challenges. The conflict in Darfur and the protection violations of civilians in the region is on-going. Instability affecting the eastern part of the country as well as risk of poor harvest in parts of Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile in Southern Sudan, the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Sudanese and other humanitarian needs across the country, mean a massive relief and humanitarian effort will be crucial to alleviating the suffering of the Sudanese people.

"The well-being of millions of Sudanese people, even the success of the peace agreement itself, hinges on our response," stated Mr. da Silva, "The challenges in Sudan are daunting but we can't afford the consequences of failure."

Currently the largest funding appeal in the world, the Sudan Work Plan takes both a regional and sectoral approach, actively involving the donors, the government and the NGOs working most closely with populations in need, to ensure the specific needs of the widely varied regions of Africa's largest nation. "It's an enormous feat to be able to say that every figure and every project laid out in more than 500 pages of this exceptionally comprehensive document has the buy-in of the government, the donors and the NGOs who work most closely with the beneficiaries," noted Mr. da Silva.

The UN and its partners plan to support 5.52 million people with relief aid across the country, including 2.5 million people affected by the ongoing conflict in Darfur. This includes meeting the immediate lifesaving needs of the population, especially the vulnerable and the displaced as well as dealing with the serious issues of protection of civilians across Sudan, including Darfur. Programmes will also support a projected 680,000 returnees related to the North-South conflict and the communities to which they are returning.

But humanitarian assistance alone is not enough to ensure the developmental process upon which a sustainable peace can be built. The US$212 million in funds needed to establish new governance institutions, provide technical support and increase local capacity, represents merely a fraction of the wide spectrum of recovery and development projects that will be supported by both the GNU and GoSS through various development funding mechanisms.

While last year's Work Plan garnered nearly US$1 billion in support, much of the funds came late in the year and still only fulfilled 52% of Sudan's needs.

"Sudan has made great strides towards peace. Those positive steps need to be supported with generous and timely funding from the international community, in particular through funding of the 2006 Work Plan," said Mr. Pronk.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, cell +1 917 892 1679; or Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, cell +41 79 473 4570; Ms. Dawn Elizabeth Blalock, +249-1-912-174-454, blalock@un.org