Development Cooperation

Norwegian development cooperation with Sudan covers a wide variety of areas, and entails both bilateral and multilateral projects. Norwegian aid is mostly channeled through the Multidonor Trust Funds (until 2008); UN agencies, international and Norwegian NGOs.Consolidating peace in the whole of Sudan is the main focus for all Norwegian involvement.

Norway’s development assistance to Sudan has four main components: (1) Support to national programmes which contribute to the implementation of the CPA, including support to elections and the referendum; the DDR process, and the petroleum sector. (2) Support to reconstruction, state building and basic services in Southern Sudan. (3) Special support to reconstruction in the “three areas” Southern Kordufan, Blue Nile and Abyei. (4) Humanitarian assistance with emphasis on support to resettlement and reintegration; for Darfur, Southern Sudan and other affected areas.

Supporting the peace agreement
Norwegian involvement in Sudan increased substantially after the signing of the CPA in 2005. In April 2005, The Norwegian Government hosted an international “Donors’ Conference on Sudan”, as an important forum for the international community to pledge support for the people of the Sudan in the reconstruction phase that started with the signing of the peace agreement. At the conference, international donors pledged assistance to Sudan amounting to 4,5 billion USD. In each of the following years there have been arranged donors' conferences on Sudan.

In May 2008 Norway hosted the "Sudan Consortium". The consortium became a success first and foremost because it demonstrated a strong international will to support peace and development in Sudan for the last part of the interim period of the CPA with a total sum of 4,8 billion USD. For the coming years, these contributions will play a major role in the development co-operation between Sudan and the international community.

Multi Donor Trust Funds and Joint Donor Office
Norway is committed to long term and broad-based development co-operation with Sudan. Working with other donors, we are involved in efforts that seek harmonization between donors and effectiveness of international aid. The Multi Donor Trust Funds (MDTFs) are important vehicles, both on national and regional levels, for achieving these goals. Most of Norwegian contributions with regards to long term assistance are channelled through these funds, where emphasis is on national ownership. Projects funded from these sources focus primarily on the implementation of the peace agreement, reconstruction and poverty reduction. In May 2006, the Joint Donor Office (JDO) opened in Juba. This is an innovative effort of coordinating development assistance between the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Canada and Norway.

Main areas for development co-operation
Norway also channels funds through UN-agencies and various NGOs. Humanitarian assistance is primarily channelled through the UN Work Plan for Sudan. Among the priority areas are recovery, education, health, food security, good governance, gender issues and anti-corruption. Norway seeks to contribute to return and reintegration of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) all over Sudan. Further, Norway, together with UNDP, supports capacity building and institutional support in both the North and the South of Sudan, with a particular emphasis on capacity building of the Presidential Office of Government of Southern Sudan and the Parliament in Juba.

A brief overview of Norway's contribution to Sudan in 2009

 1. Modalities of Assistance (Preliminary Figures)

 2. Major Programmes in 2009 (Implementing partners, region)

3. Volume of assistance in 2008 and 2009

2008: NOK 684 mill (approximately USD 120 mill).

2009: NOK 590 mill (approximately USD 95 mill) – preliminary figure.

4. Planned assistance for 2010

Assistance for the year 2010 is still in the planning process, and will follow the overall guidelines as outlined above.