Sudan reaches Donor target
Tuesday, 12 April 2005
Sudan reaches Donor target
Sudan sought $2.6 billion from donors, on Monday 11th of April, to help the south of Sudan recover after Africa's longest civil war. The U.N. have issued warnings of food shortages and calls for Khartoum to put a stop to violence in its western Darfur region.
Donors made aid pledges in excess of $2.0 billion on the first day of the two-day donor conference in Oslo. The meeting is attended by 60 nations.
The target of $2.6bn had been set to fund the return of refugees and to build infrastructure in southern Sudan, which was neglected and destroyed by 21 years of civil war, leaving it one of the world's poorest areas.
"In the south, we will run out of food for 2 million people in a matter of weeks," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned delegates of one of the world's poorest regions. "Other critical sectors like water and health are even worse off."
"If ever there was a time for donors to get off the fence, it is now," he said.
Ex-rebels and Sudan's government vowed to stick to their January North-South deal to end 21 years of fighting.
More than 2 million people were killed and 4 million displaced by the war that pitted the mainly animist and Christian south against the Arab north in a conflict complicated by issues of oil, ethnicity and ideology.
Among major pledges on Monday, the European Commission promised about $765 million, Britain $545 million, Norway $250 million and the Netherlands $220 million, organisers said.
The United States has pledged some $850m, today, April 12th, to help rebuild South Sudan.
The US pledge means the conference target has been passed, sparking a round of applause in the hotel. In addition to the $850m, the US also promised $900m depending on support from the congress.
