Darfur’s Donors Conference

Photo credit: RT Arabic

In the news, the International Donor Conference for Darfur in Doha has attracted delegations from 37 nations, 22 UN agencies and 60 international and national organizations.

One of the conference objectives is the Darfur Development Strategy (DDS), a six-year plan of action that emerged from the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) and which requires donor support to move Darfur from humanitarian assistance towards rehabilitation, sustained development and lasting peace.

The two-day conference which began on Sunday and finished today was agreed under a July 2011 peace deal the government signed in the Qatari capital with an alliance of rebel splinter groups.

"Peace time has begun in Darfur. A peace that will be protected by development, not by force," said Qatari Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Al Thani, at the opening of the conference.

Specifics of the strategy were presented by technical specialists, who deemed it vital to adopt a holistic approach in order to move Darfur out of the cycle of conflict and poverty, and towards a stable and prosperous future. 

Built around the three central ‘pillars’ of  Economic Recovery , Rehabilitation and Governance  and Justice and Reconciliation, the DDS asserts that Darfuri national and international supporters must coordinate their efforts to ensure that the pattern of assistance to Darfur evolves to meet sustainable goals.

A question arises however as to how these funds can be spent on development in such circumstances of insecurity in the region, where armed movements have resumed their activity, especially in the heavily populated state of South Darfur. This is particularly unfortunate since Darfuri displaced populations collectively agreed, during the “Voluntary Return Conference” held recently in Nyala, on the urgent need for disarmament as the first prerequisite for security in the region.

What makes the question even more pressing is a statement attributed to the conference organizers which says: “Given Darfur’s prolonged insecurity, the majority of international assistance to Darfur over the last ten years has quite understandably aimed to support and sustain displaced populations. Yet this protracted relief aid has done little to address the root causes of the crisis, nor has it enabled the people of Darfur and their government to more meaningfully dictate their own recovery and rehabilitation”.

The statement goes on to  accurately explain that “Donor support to recovery and development based on the needs articulated in the DDS is therefore required to accelerate implementation of the DDPD and mitigate the risks that inaction would inevitably bring. In order to ensure a sound investment, the DDS has incorporated lessons learnt from prior assessments and other international funding appeals; ones that have been hindered by either a lack of security and/or funding”.

Therefore, we advise that the money raised by this conference be reserved until such a time that a final peace agreement is reached with all the Darfuri armed movements.  

Spending the funds which belong to the people of Darfur and which will prove difficult if not impossible to come by again, under current conditions, would be much like the Sudanese adage “plowing water in the sea”!