AARREC
ACF
ACTED
ADRA
Africare
AMI-France
ARC
ASB
ASI
AVSI
CARE
CARITAS
CEMIR INTERNATIONAL
CESVI
CFA
CHF
CHFI
CISV
CMA
CONCERN
Concern Universal
COOPI
CORDAID
COSV / CRS
CWS
Danchurchaid
DDG
Diakonie Emergency Aid
DRC
EM-DH
FAO
FAR
FHI
Finnchurchaid
French RC
FSD
GAA
GOAL
GTZ
GVC
Handicap International
HealthNet TPO
HELP
HelpAge International
HKI
Horn Relief / HT
Humedica
IA
ILO
IMC
INTERMON
Internews
INTERSOS
IOM
IPHD
IR
IRC
IRD
IRIN
IRW
Islamic RW
JOIN
JRS
LWF
Malaria Consortium
Malteser
Mercy Corps
MDA / MDM
MEDAIR
MENTOR
MERLIN
NCA
NPA
NRC
OCHA
OHCHR
OXFAM
PA (formerly ITDG)
PACT
PAI
Plan
PMU-I
PU
RC/Germany
RCO
Samaritan's Purse
SECADEV
Solidarités
SUDO
TEARFUND / TGH
UMCOR
UNAIDS
UNDP
UNDSS
UNEP
UNESCO
UNFPA
UN-HABITAT
UNHCR
UNICEF
UNIFEM
UNJLC
UNMAS
UNOPS
UNRWA
VIS
WFP
WHO
World Concern
World Relief
WV
ZOA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2.Changes in context & humanitarian needs
3.Progress to date
4.Sectors & Cross-Cutting Issues
4.1Cross-Cutting Issues
4.2Sector Summaries
5.Funding
6.Conclusion
Annex I.Projects Removed, Added or Revised
Annex II.List of Acronyms
Please note that appeals are revised regularly. The latest version of this document is available on
1
SudanWorkPlan 2008 Mid-Year Review
1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 2008 UN and Partners Work Plan for Sudan outlines humanitarian and development programmes for a country deeply scarred by decades of man-made conflict and natural disasters. Three years have passed since Sudan’s warring factions signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) to end the war between north and south. In that time, there has been considerable progress towards building sustainable peace; so too has there been considerable conflict. While large swathes of the country continue to progress away from humanitarian need towards recovery and development, others remain embroiled in fighting, and until that stops, millions will continue to suffer and to rely on humanitarian aid.
As this Mid-Year Review shows, 2008 has already been a year of several successes: across Sudan, roads have been built, mines cleared, millions of children vaccinated and dozens removed from armed groups. More than 85,000 displaced Sudanese have been assisted by the UN to return home from North Sudan and neighbouring countries, while around 3.4 million people received food. Hundreds of teachers, lawyers, police, government officials, judges, parents and children have been taught new skills and given training on subjects like human rights, gender inequalities, child protection, budget planning, AIDS, mine risk and conflict resolution. The need to manage Sudan’s resources has moved up the agenda as a component of sustainable development: their depletion not only makes people more reliant on aid, but also aggravates the fundamental causes of conflict. On all these issues, coordination between the UN and Partners, government parties, civil society and donors has improved and supported progress across Sudan.
Yet alongside these reports of progress, continuing violence has not only compounded the misery of millions of Sudanese but increasingly complicated the delivery of vital humanitarian aid. The first six months of 2008 have seen several worrying developments. In Darfur, conflict is deepening. Another 200,000 people have been displaced so far this year, taking the total number of displaced and vulnerable to around 4.3 million. Camps are over-crowded; water in short supply; consecutive bad harvests and rising food and fuel prices have heightened malnutrition. Of great concern to the humanitarian community is that it is increasingly the target of violence. This year, 12 humanitarian workers have been killed in Sudan, eight of them in Darfur. More than 140 have been abducted and more than 170 vehicles hijacked. The United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) remains under-deployed and ill-equipped to protect civilians, and insecurity has cut off thousands of people from much-needed aid. The UN’s decision to raise security levels both in Darfur and the rest of North Sudan, taken after this report was compiled, may also impact future operations and planning.
Violence has extended beyond Darfur. An attack on Omdurman by Darfur-based rebels in May brought that battle almost to the capital, leading to a security clampdown in Darfur and the tightening of restrictions that make the UN and Partners’ task there all the more difficult. The brutal attack on UNAMID in Darfur and possible security and political implications due to the announcements from the International Criminal Court remain of serious concern. Heavy fighting in Abyei, also in May, forced up to 60,000 people to flee their homes, creating an emergency need that diverted funds, materials, and energies needed elsewhere. The violence in Abyei did not come out of nowhere: continued boundary disputes, disregard for oil revenue sharing agreements and the lack of an interim administration have all taken their toll. While the UN and Partners were able to respond quickly to May’s crisis, rebuilding Abyei will cost more than US$[1]13 million.Security across the Three Areas of Abyei, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile has deteriorated in the first part of the year and is of real concern; the border region is a tinderbox, and without high level attention is likely to flare.
The Mid-Year Review offers a good opportunity to review strategic approaches and priorities as the UN and Partners begin to plan for 2009. While previous Work Plans reported on humanitarian assistance and recovery and development, 2008 saw the introduction of a new category: early recovery, intended to highlight the gradual transition towards long-term, sustainable solutions. In 2009, the Work Plan will present only humanitarian and early recovery portfolios while a separate United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) will plan for recovery and development; in preparation, this Mid-Year Review focuses on those first two categories. While the transition towards development remains a goal, it is clear that humanitarian needs have not diminished. Humanitarian and early recovery funding requirements rose by $81 million to $1.95 billion in the first half of the year, the most significant increases driven by rising food prices, growing need for transportation and greater support to refugees. At the same date, $1.03 billion had been received – more than half of which was to support Darfur – leaving a shortfall of $911 million. In the absence of political solutions, it is difficult to predict anything but an increase in humanitarian needs.
2.Changes in context & humanitarian needs
The UN and Partners Work Plan for Sudan proposes humanitarian and development programmes. In 2008, a new category was introduced to highlight the transition towards longer-term, sustainable solutions and as a result programmes are now organised along three distinct but complementary lines: humanitarian assistance, early recovery and recovery and development. This shift in approach will be consolidated as the country moves towards 2009, when the Work Plan will focus entirely on humanitarian and early recovery programmes; those activities concentrating on recovery and development will be dealt with in a separate UNDAF. In preparation for this, the Mid-Year Review therefore focuses on progress made in humanitarian and early recovery portfolios across the country, and excludes recovery and development. The cornerstone of humanitarian efforts remains that the UN and Partners are strongly positioned to save lives, provide essential services, maintain human dignity and ensure emergency preparedness. The early recovery efforts act as a catalyst for long term capacity building, allowing all humanitarian actors to bring attention to those activities which lay the foundations for recovery and bolster the ability of Sudanese and international partners to collaborate on lasting development and peace.
Events on the ground in the first half of the year have tested this direction. Armed conflict in Abyei and Southern Kordofan, renewed fighting in Darfur, a rebel attack on Omdurman and rising international food and commodity prices have all stretched resources and challenged the humanitarian community. The 10 May Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) assault on Omdurman, on the outskirts of Khartoum, the outbreak of fighting in Abyei three days later, and the 8 July attack on UNAMID can both be understood as symptoms of wider trends, and as such are key to understanding changing dynamics affecting humanitarian operations. The targeted attack on UNAMID peacekeeping forces in early July in Darfur is an alarming example of the volatility of the region and the requirement to remain vigilant.
Security within Darfur has deteriorated in recent months due to fighting between government forces and rebel factions, clashes between rebel groups, inter-tribal violence and escalating banditry. The civilian populations continue to be targeted in violation of international humanitarian and human rights laws. The attack on Omdurman came after weeks of aerial bombing of communities in Northern Darfur and in a context of stalled peace talks and splintering rebel movements. It established JEM – which did not sign the failed 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement – as a military leader among factions and a threat to national security. As a result, national security restrictions have increased in Darfur, along with bureaucratic restrictions on the humanitarian community. As the sector reports that follow in chapter three illustrate, insecurity and government restrictions have limited the work of the international community, even as they increase the need of Darfuris. There are 200,000 newly displaced people this year; the total of those displaced and needing life-saving assistance is estimated to be 4.3 million. The protracted conflict in Darfur – now in its sixth year – is compounding misery by over-subscribing basic services and the vulnerable water table in Darfur camps. Consecutive poor harvests, cuts to food assistance and soaring food and fuel prices have pushed malnutrition rates still higher, while administrative delays in clearing and publishing morbidity, malnutrition and mortality studies have made it all the harder for the humanitarian community to respond effectively. Another significant change in context is the relentless targeting of humanitarian workers. In the first six months of the year, combatants have killed eight humanitarian workers in Darfur and kidnapped 139; 41 drivers contracted by the World Food Programme (WFP) are still missing. Humanitarian vehicles are hijacked or stolen on an almost daily basis. UNAMID’s protection of civilians and humanitarian operations mandate is highly welcomed, but the force is under-deployed and few benefits have been realised; it has itself been the target of deadly attacks. As of a May report to the Security Council, civilian deployment was 1,474 (of 5,569) and uniformed personnel 7,019 (of 27,000). This Mid-Year Review was compiled before the UN decided to raise its security levels in both Darfur and the rest of North Sudan, and it is too early to tell what impact that move will have on agencies’ operations and planning. But it is clear that the increasingly precarious situation in Darfur requires the international community to reformulate strategies for relief, and intensifies the need to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
May’s violence in Abyei, which destroyed the town and uprooted some 60,000 people from their homes, also comes against a backdrop of protracted tensions throughout the region bordering Southern Sudan. Delays in implementing the Abyei protocol have been cited as a concern in each Work Plan since 2005. Recovery opportunities will remain limited until the border dispute is resolved, an interim administration is in place and oil revenue sharing agreements adhered to. Continued under-funding of development programmes, local disputes and untenable returns have destabilised parts of Southern Kordofan and other key states along the southern border. Conflicts in Heglig, Kharasana and Abyei are indicative of tensions that have the potential to flare. Fortunately, the rapid humanitarian response to the Abyei crisis prevented further suffering to the displaced and the host communities, and the UN has welcomed an agreement to resolve the issues that fomented the violence, signed in June by both the SPLM and the National Congress Party (NCP). But in addition to the $9 million required for immediate humanitarian assistance, it will cost an estimated $10 million to rebuild the destroyed town, and $3.5 million to reconstruct UN and non-governmental organisation (NGO) premises destroyed in the assault on the town. As the international community slowly rebuilds a services presence in Abyei, the disintegration of border areas requires vigilance on the part of the international community if further violence is to be avoided. The Third Sudan Consortium held in Oslo in May observed a significant challenge promoting peace and stability along the borderof the Three Areas, and statistical surveys including the Sudan Household Survey indicate significant poverty and vulnerability in these areas which bore the brunt of conflict during Sudan’s 22-year civil war. While donors have pledged funds, plans to assist have yet to be implemented. Greater support is needed, particularly in parts of former Western Kordofan where there is no sustained UN presence and only one international NGO.
While the broad priorities in each sector and planning region remain the same as they were when the 2008 Work Plan was written, the UN and Partners continue to rapidly adapt to the shifting context described above. The completion of the first phase of a census in May shows promise, as is the passing of an electoral law, intended to ready Sudan for elections next year. But unless significant political progress is also made in Darfur and the Three Areas, the increased insecurity and bubbling tension are likely to significantly impact the delivery of humanitarian assistance going forward. There are also signs that the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) – whose 22-year war with the Ugandan government has killed tens of thousands of people – has been increasingly active in Southern Sudan. Peace talks with the LRA came close to a deal earlier this year, but rebel leader Joseph Kony ultimately failed to sign. Since then, reports of attacks on civilians and clashes with Southern Sudanese forces – which the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) denies – have raised the spectre of further violence and disruption to the south.
Decades of civil war and natural disasters have left millions of Sudanese without homes or livelihoods. While the environmental, social, economic and political consequences of protracted crisis vary from region to region, the dynamics of conflict have implications beyond their battlefields. Humanitarian, early recovery and development concerns often overlap, and the UN and Partners’ vision of a coordinated effort requires increasing levels of cooperation between sectors, and between regions. The sector reports which follow underline this message, many of them reporting significant progress in attempts to share information, cooperate in planning and work together at every level.
3.Progress to date
The 2008 Work Plan identified seven strategic priorities: to support peace agreements, to facilitate the transition from humanitarian aid to recovery and development via the new category of early recovery, to maintain lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Darfur, to help governments and local NGOs build capacity for the long term, to implement flexible and effective funding mechanisms, to manage information and to prepare for emergencies.
Dealing with each in turn, progress made towards achieving these priorities is as follows:
Peace Agreements
The two CPA priorities highlighted in the 2008 Work Plan were the census and preparation for 2009 elections. After many delays, the enumeration part of the census was carried out in May. This census is a necessary precursor to holding free and fair elections, and its completion can be taken as a positive step towards the end goal of democracy. However, access to some areas was hindered by violence, and it will only be possible to gauge the census’ impact once results have been processed and published. Preparations for the elections, including establishing the necessary legal architecture, have been slow in coming, but in early July, parliament passed an election law. While its passing is a step in the right direction, momentum must be maintained if elections are to take place on schedule. Sudan must now urgently establish a National Election Commission, and other laws relating to media and national security will need to be enacted if elections are to be free and fair. The implementation of the Abyei protocol – which includes the boundary demarcation process – is a third CPA benchmark yet to be achieved. At the time of writing, it is hoped that arbitrators based in The Hague could begin work within months to resolve the dispute over Abyei’s borders; the need to do so is pressing. Delays in implementing the CPA have been cited since the 2005 Work Plan; the longer the delay, the greater the risk of instability.