APRODEV, the Brussels-based association of 17 European church related aid organisations, is extremely concerned by the possibility that the European Union (EU) may cut its development funds to Sudan after it failed to ratify the Cotonou Agreement. The organisation believes that European states must work together to ensure there is not a damaging drop in funding for war-ravaged parts of Sudan.
The stand-off between the EU and Sudan is reportedly connected with the fact that the Cotonou Agreement includes clauses endorsing the International Criminal Court (ICC). Sudan's president, having recently been indicted by the ICC for war crimes, would be unwilling to ratify it for this reason.
Sudan will thus not be legally eligible for the latest round of the European Development Fund (EDF), and, as a consequence, over €300m of aid to Sudan will not be released by the European Commission.
Not all of this aid would have gone to Sudan's central government in Khartoum. Much of it was destined for UN managed recovery funds - such as the Multi Donor Trust Fund, and the Recovery and Rehabilitation Programme - set up to support the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that was signed between north and south Sudan in 2005.
The loss of these funds will severely affect semi-autonomous southern Sudan, and the 'Three Areas' on the border between north and south - Abyei, South Kordofan and Southern Blue Nile.
Rob van Drimmelen, General Secretary of APRODEV said 'Many of the localities worse affected by the withdrawal of EDF assistance are in parts of Sudan that are quite autonomous from the capital Khartoum where the decision not to ratify the agreement has taken place."
Moreover, according to many Sudan experts, the cut could come at a time when the CPA is in an extremely precarious state and when a financial crisis is looming over South-Sudan's budget. Improvements in livelihoods and basic services are badly needed to improve the living standards of Sudanese in many poor areas of the country, lest political volatility will increase even more.
According to Van Drimmelen: "Many EU member states have worked hard to support the CPA. Stopping this aid now would be detrimental to this effort."
Rosan Smits from the Dutch agency ICCO (a member of APRODEV) continued: "This is an unprecedented situation, and is now essentially a legal blockage. What is needed now is for European governments to work together to find another way to channel aid to poor people in Sudan. This will require political will from EU member states and a strong lead from the European Commission on the legal aspects of this problem. If this is not done one of the poorest countries in the world will suffer a major drop in development aid."
One of the main funds to be affected will be the Recovery and Rehabilitation Programme (RRP). Dutch APRODEV member ICCO works in Juba County in southern Sudan, delivering an RRP-funded livelihoods programme.
Ms Smits said, "This development poses serious questions about the future of our programme in Juba County. This is an extremely poor area of great need. Long-term financial support for programmes such as these is critical to ensuring sustainability of services such as health care delivery and agricultural activities."
Contact:
Barbara Bosma, ICCO, tel.nr.: +31 (0)30
692 7804 or +31 (0)6 22 454 112
Rob van Drimmelen, APRODEV, Tel. nr.:+32-2-2345660