Italian cooperation activities in Sudan (2005)
Within the framework of the longstanding ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries, Italy, after having actively participated in the negotiations leading up to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPA in Nairobi, on the 9th January 2005, participated in the Oslo’s Donors’ Conference. At the Donors’ Conference, true to our role in Sudan, we pledged an amount of € 60 million over three years (2005-’07).
The breakdown of our pledge of € 20 million for this year is as follows:
Northern Sudan:
Through the UN agencies, Italy funds several programmes in South Kordofan. The Italian presence in this region is longstanding, and Italy is interested in increasing our cooperation here, as it is our belief that the Nuba Mountains represent an important testing ground for the implementation of the CPA for the entire country. The Italian cooperation programmes concentrate on three priority sectors: health, education and infrastructure development. In particular, the following programmes of the UN Work Plan for 2005 have been sponsored by Italy:
UNICEF: Italy funds programmes in Education, Water and Sanitation, Mine Risk Education and DDR for children, for a total amount of € 1,650,000.
WHO: Italian Cooperation funds a programme in health delivery and information management systems for € 250,000.
WFP: A programme for the rehabilitation and de-mining of roads, costing a total of € 600,000 is sponsored by Italy, with the aim of improving road communications between North and South Sudan. As local authorities have repeatedly pointed out, this is a priority area for the country as it will facilitate the movement of people in a peaceful Sudan.
As we believe that is important for people of the South Sudan, in the aftermath of the signing of the CPA, to reap the dividends of peace, Italy has decided to finance the UN Agencies’ programmes in the Regions of Equatoria, Bahr El Gazal and the Blue Nile. All our programmes have been chosen for their quick impact on the beneficiaries, IDPs and refugees, who are expected to return to their villages in the South and who will require all the basic social services to be in place before their return. Italy pays particular attention to children, as they are the future of Sudan. In this respect, we have focused our attention on the health, education, infrastructure and agriculture sectors, through financing the following programmes of the UN Work Plan for 2005:
UNICEF: Italy funds programmes in Education, Water and Sanitation and DDR for children, for a total of € 1,930,000.
WHO: Italian Cooperation supports programmes targeting the control of endemic and tropical diseases, improving laboratory services and rehabilitating the Southern Sudan Health Sectors, for a total of € 920,000 euros.
WFP: Italy sponsors programmes for the rehabilitation and de-mining of roads at a total amount of € 680,000 euros.
FAO: Programmes for facilitating access to property and establishing ownership, at a total of € 970,000 euros are funded by Italy. This programme, to be realised in collaboration with local communities, addresses the issues of land access and property which in the past caused conflicts among different tribes. It is our firm belief that rural development is crucial for the economic growth of the South.
ICRC: Italy’s contribution to the ICRC’s programmes in Sudan totals € 1 million for activities mainly in the North of the country.
Italy pledged € 5 millions to the two UNDP / World Bank Multi Donor Trust Funds (MDTF) for both the North and the South Sudan.
Italy has resumed its bilateral cooperation with Sudan in the health sector. In particular, in South Sudan we implemented an emergency programme for the people of South Sudan for a total of € 1.4m., in addition to a coordination programme in the Rumbek district, for a total of € 700,000. In the same region, we are planning a programme for the improvement of the Primary Health Care as well as another providing support to the Health Services in South Sudan at a total cost of € 1.2m.
In the North of the country, the bilateral activities of the Italian Cooperation are coordinated by Dr. Barbara Contini, Special Envoy of the Italian Government for Darfur, and cover the three States of Darfur in addition to Kassala.
In Darfur, the Italian Cooperation is conducting projects in the water and sanitation sector; camp management in Garsila (West Darfur); providing emergency support to the hospital in Kulbus (West Darfur); an emergency intervention for the rehabilitation of the Kass water pipeline (South Darfur); an education activity to support children and young mothers in Mellit, and an emergency project to support the hygienic education in Ed Dain (West Darfur). The aim of these programmes is to give basic social services to the IDPs in West and South Darfur through joint collaboration between Italian NGOs and UNICEF. The total budget of this programme is € 2.4m.
In Darfur the Italian Cooperation is furthermore building a school and a hospital funded through a fundraising campaign that took place in Italy in March and April 2005 that raised € 500,000. A further € 500,000 were donated by RAI (Italian public Broadcasting company), during the “Sanremo” Song Festival in February, and will be used for the construction of a Paediatric Primary Health clinic in Nyala. In addition, the RAI conducted a workshop to train journalists and tv-crew of the Nyala Television Corporation.
In Kassala in Eastern Sudan, the Italian Cooperation is implementing a project in the health sector aiming at rehabilitating six clinics and the emergency ward of the Kassala town hospital. The hospital will be supplied with medical equipment and an ambulance. Concurrently, the programme will conduct training activities for physicians and paramedics, at a total budget of € 640,000.
Last but not least, the Italian NGO “Emergency” is constructing a cardiology hospital in Khartoum. The hospital is designed to act as regional focal point for cardiac surgery and will benefit from the presence and experience of numerous Italian surgeons.
The Italian Cooperation continually assesses local needs and seeks to implement new programmes through the bilateral channel.
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