United States aid to Sudan

United States policy on conflict mitigation and reconcilation in Sudan is primarily focused on humanitarian aid with funds dispersed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Due to cultural and religious differences between north and south Sudan, the country has been in conflict for much of the last 50 years. The United States is the largest donor of aid to Sudan and is followed by nations from the European Union. Additionally, the United Nations has a strong presence in Sudan and is focused on peace building, governance, livelihoods, and basic services. Most of the USAID funding for conflict mitigation and reconciliation in Sudan has gone towards the Economic Support Fund which will help Sudan implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Early results of the program indicated local involvement in peace keeping activities. Critics of U.S. aid to Sudan are concerned about a lack of focus and strategy as well as the funding of child soldiers in Sudan.

Background of conflict in Sudan

Further information: Sudan

Sources of conflict

The conflict in Sudan is rooted in cultural and religious differences. Sudan is most notably divided by the Arab Muslims of the north and the black Africans of the south who mainly practice Christian or animist beliefs. Northerners traditionally controlled the country and have sought to unify it along the lines of Arabism and Islam despite the opposition of non-Muslims, southerners, and marginalized peoples in the west and east.

Historical timeline

Further information: War in Darfur

Since its independence from Britain and Egypt in January 1, 1956, Sudan has experienced two civil wars. The First Sudanese Civil War started around the time of independence when the newly formed government failed to create a federal system. During this war, there was a change of government and it went from pursuing a policy of Arabization and Islamization to one of communism and socialism. The civil war ended when the south was granted autonomy.

The Second Sudanese Civil War began in 1983 and lasted 22 years. During this time, a new civilian government was formed and several peace-keeping efforts led to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the war in 2005. As a result of the second civil war and famine-related effects, more than four million people were displaced and more than two million deaths occurred.

Much of the conflict in Sudan has resulted from a north-south divergence. In 2003, a rebellion broke out in marginalized Darfur region and President Omar Al-Bashir has been accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. This conflict has displaced nearly two million people and caused an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 deaths.

Timeline of conflict in Sudan

U.S. foreign aid overview

History

Further information: History of U.S. foreign policy

In 1961, Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act, which separated the U.S.'s non-military and military foreign assistance programs. As part of the Act, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was created. This act was passed in the wake of the Marshall Plan, in which the U.S provided aid to European countries who were devastated from World War II. President John F. Kennedy supported the creation of USAID with justifications based on three tenants:

1. Current foreign aid programs were ill-equipped to meet the needs of the U.S and developing countries.

2. Allowing developing countries' economies to collapse would be "disastrous to our national security, harmful to our comparative prosperity, and offensive to our conscience."

3. The 1960's was a good time for developed countries to assist developing countries..

Current allocation to Sudan

According to the U.S. embassy in Chad, there are three key U.S. Strategic Objectives in Sudan:

1. A definitive end to conflict, gross human rights abuses, and genocide in Darfur.
2. Implementation of the North-South CPA that results in a peaceful post-2011 Sudan, or an orderly path toward two separate and viable states at peace with each other.
3. Ensure that Sudan does not provide a safe haven for international terrorists.

A bulk of U.S. foreign aid to Sudan should, as a result, pertain to one or more of these objectives. The U.S also wants to encourage the local governments to be more active in assisting its people in reaching these objectives.

As of 2010, the current allocation of foreign aid to the Sudan is $420,349,319. The U.S. had been involved with foreign aid to Sudan for many years. From 1977-1981, they gave close to $270 million (USD) and was Sudan's largest source of foreign aid by 1984. In the mid-1980's, the U.S. provided Sudan with food aid, insecticides, and fertilizers but when Sudan failed to repay loans in 1985, the U.S. ceased all non-food aid. However, USAID continued to provide humanitarian assistance through 1991. Since 2005, the U.S. government has contributed upwards of $8 billion in humanitarian aid as food aid, health care provisions, water, sanitation and hygiene. They have also given money towards nutrition, agriculture, protection, and economic recovery programs. A large portion of this funding is through USAID, which funds solely through bilateral programs, rather than pooling efforts within multilateral organizations.

Programs

Visual identity of USAID. The logo is on the left and the brand mark on the right.

USAID focuses on six main areas of development in Sudan.

Humanitarian assistance

USAID funds activities which support the CPA, long-term recovery, and a transition to a more peaceful and secure nation. USAID has been active in Darfur since 2004. $127.6 million for water sanitation, hygiene, health, shelter, and infrastructure was provided to Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad in 2009.

Food aid

USAID has been Sudan's largest food aid donor since 2004. USAID provides an annual $30 million for a multi-year food aid development program as well as almost $680 million in emergency food aid. Darfur, displaced peoples and returnees, basic services, and food security are USAID's priorities.

Peace and security

A goal of USAID in Sudan is to build Sudanese capacity to address the causes and effects of political conflict, violence, and instability. USAID also wishes to strengthen consensus building through political processes. Civil and community organizations in Darfur are also supported.

Governing justly and democratically

USAID supports the CPA's core political processes. They strengthen the systems to meet the needs of citizens and government, as well as developing governmental priorities at multiple levels. In southern Sudan and Three Areas, USAID assists with governmental transparency and increasing incomes. They also support elections, consultations, and referenda. A major goal is to promote participation in the civic process, consensus building, and international observation.

Investing in people

USAID focuses on health by supporting mother and child health services and reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases. They also support training medical officers to increase access to health care and immunizations. To support education, they train teachers, improve schools, and encourage parent participation in education. USAID also promotes education for girls.

Economic growth

By improving infrastructure and connections from isolated communities USAID creates a more favorable environment for market development. Improved land management for areas rich in biodiversity is also a focus.

U.S. policy on conflict mitigation and reconciliation

History of funding for the program

Funding from 2006-2011

In 2005, USAID reported on its Sudanese funding strategy, considering Sudan the U.S. government's highest priority in Africa, due to "its importance for counterterrorism and regional stability, as well as the magnitude of human rights and humanitarian abuses." This would seemingly explain the high level of U.S. funding, particularly within the Peace & Security sector, during the years immediately after the 2005 signing of the CPA in Sudan. The U.S. government's priority was to assist in the implementation of the agreement, as Sudan's ability to achieve stability rested primarily on the CPA.

Although U.S. Funding on Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation in Sudan has existed for years, information has only recently become transparent through ForeignAssistance.gov, a joint collaboration by USAID and the U.S. Department of State. Since 2007, of the $144.71 million of U.S. funding allocated towards Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation in Sudan, $141.77 million has gone towards the Economic Support Fund. USAID states the following as key objectives for the Economic Support Fund:

• Supporting strategically significant friends and allies through assistance designed to increase the role of the private sector in the economy, reduce government controls over markets, enhance job creation, and improve economic growth;
• Developing and strengthening institutions necessary for sustainable democracy. Typical areas of assistance include technical assistance to administer and monitor elections, capacity building for non-governmental organizations, judicial training, and women's participation in politics. Assistance is also provided to support the transformation of the public sector to encourage democratic development, including training to improve public administration, promote decentralization, and strengthen local governments, parliaments, independent media and non-governmental organizations.
• Strengthening the capacity to manage the human dimension of the transition to democracy and a market economy and the help sustain the neediest sectors of the population during the transition period.

One of the uses for these funds is to "assist countries and regions at risk of civil unrest by helping these countries fight poverty, build democratic institutions to guarantee human rights, and provide basic services and economic opportunities to their populations." As Sudan falls under this description for "at-risk states", the Economic Support Fund will specifically help Sudan implement the CPA and support peace processes in Darfur.

Overall U.S. funding for foreign aid to Sudan has decreased from $924.1 million in 2009 to $427.8 million in 2010, with the department requesting $440.0 million in 2011. Of this funding, the amount allocated towards Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation in Sudan has fluctuated dramatically in recent years, as shown in the bar graph above.

U.S. Funding for Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation within Sudan falls under the umbrella of Peace and Security funding, which is primarily administered by USAID and the U.S. State Department. USAID defined its work for Peace and Security in Sudan in the following way:

"USAID works to strengthen Sudanese capacity to address the causes and consequences of political conflict, violence, and instability. This includes building the capacity of local authorities to deliver peace dividends and enforce the rule of law. USAID also assists existing mechanisms that support consensus-building through key political processes to mitigate potentially catalytic conflicts. In Darfur, USAID supports civil society and community organizations in early recovery and peace-building activities."

Results

The U.S. State Department has a large list of performance indicators used to determine the value of funding towards Peace & Security objectives. The information used to assess performance is attained by State Department agencies, its partners, as well as multilateral global bodies (UN, World Bank, etc.).

Overall, because of the the integrated approach to Sudanese funding from not only the U.S., but the global community as a whole, specific results attributed to U.S. funding for Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation have so far been inconclusive in terms of the actual benefit to Sudan.

As program evaluations have become a higher priority for the U.S. government, quantifiable program results are beginning to show up. For example, in 2008, USAID funding towards Peace and Security in Sudan resulted in the following:

• strengthening 38 formal and informal peace-building and community-strengthening networks in Darfur, including neighborhood youth associations
• engagement of 102,407 people in community-based reconciliation projects throughout northern Sudan
• construction of six early warning posts in volatile areas of the Greater Upper Nile.

Reactions

The overall positive impact of U.S. aid to Sudan has been a controversial topic. A June 2010 USAID report stated “capacity building efforts in Southern Sudan are currently neither strategic nor focused. With few exceptions, [the] objectives are sweeping, unspecific, detached from actual performance, impossible to measure, and thus unlikely to succeed.” One claim is that capacity of the governmental bodies within Sudan are not enough to effectively use such funding. Aid money is either not provided where expected or used ineffectively and, therefore, mostly wasted.

Although not particularly linked to U.S. funding for Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation, one criticism of U.S. foreign aid towards Sudan has been in the use of such funding to provide assistance towards the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which enlists child soldiers. As of December 2009, the SPLA included around 1,200 children — both boys and girls aged between 12 and 17 years old.

Other foreign aid to Sudan

The United States has been the largest donor to Sudan in eight out of the ten years between 2000 and 2009 and provided 33.9% of the total aid to Sudan in this period. The European Union institutions, which together make up the second largest donor, have provided 13.4% of the total ODA between 2000 and 2009.

Arab country governments (including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) made a large single contribution of U.S.$146.4 million in 2000 and a second large contribution of U.S.$81.8 million in 2008, but have otherwise been relatively small donors providing 2.3% of the total aid in the period 2000-2009.

Top 10 donors of official development assistance (2008-2009 average) to Sudan.

Rank	Country	Total Assistance
1	United States	$901M
2	EU Institutions	$252M
3	United Kingdom	$246M
4	Netherlands	$127M
5	Japan	$124M
6	Norway	$106M
7	Canada	$94M
8	Arab Countries	$78M
9	Sweden	$60M
10	Germany	$47M

United Nations

The United Nations (UN) has had a presence in the Sudan since the 1950s and provided humanitarian assistance during Sudan's two civil wars. After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, the UN was able to coordinate planning and integration with government counterparts. Following the CPA, the UN was able to establish the following:

• The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS): consists of up to 10,000 military personnel, 715 police, and a large civilian component focused on the implementation of the CPA
• Joint Assessment Mission for Sudan: designed to assess the country's reconstruction and development needs
• United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for 2009-2012: the strategic framework developed with the Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan for the activities and collaborative efforts of the UN system at the country level
• African Union/United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID): placed 10,000 troops with the aim of bringing peace and stability to the Darfur region

United Nations Development Assistance Framework

The United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) is the common framework for all UN agencies working in Sudan. The overarching goal is consolidating peace and stability and the UN has identified four critical areas for 2009-2012:

• Peace-building
• Governance and Rule of Law
• Livelihoods and Productive Sectors
• Basic Services

Under the peace-building area, the UN has identified a goal that "by 2012, the environment for sustainable peace in Sudan is improved through increased respect for rights and human security, with special attention to individuals and communities directly affected by conflict". Under this goal, the UN has identified three sub-outcomes: enhanced capacity of Sudanese society and Government to use conflict mitigation; reduced threats from mines, explosive remnants of war, and small arms for those in conflict affected areas; and sustainable solutions for war-affected groups are supported by authorities at all levels and with active participation of communities.

Foreign aid workers expelled

In March 2009, Sudan President Omar al-Bashir ordered that all aid groups cease operations in Sudan within one year. Sudan had previously expelled 13 aid agencies, including Oxfam, Save the Children and two branches of Medecins Sans Frontieres. Some of these groups were given 24 hours to leave the country, saying that the safety of their workers could not be guaranteed. Bashir had accused aid groups of spying for the International Criminal Court, which had issued a warrant for his arrest for alleged war crimes in Darfur. His statement was later clarified to say that the order did not apply to UN agencies.

See also

• United States Department of State