The U.S. government recently announced that it will lobby international donors to pledge financial support for Sudan. The release of any funds that these efforts yield should, however, be condition so as to incentivize the government of Sudan to cease ongoing human rights abuses.
The announcement came on the heels of an agreement concluded between the governments of Sudan and South Sudan on oil and related financial transfers. Alongside this deal, the international community gave Sudan certain assurances that it would do its part to assist Sudan in closing the so-called financial gap it now faces following South Sudan’s July 2011 declaration of independence.
In a new policy brief, “The Case for Conditioning International Financial Support to Sudan,” the Enough Project identifies five conditions that the international community should demand that the government of Sudan meet prior to transferring to Khartoum any cash or forgiving any of Sudan's debt. These conditions include:
- The immediate and continuous cessation of unlawful attacks against civilian populations throughout Sudan, including in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, Darfur, and the East;
- The conclusion and demonstrated good faith implementation of a comprehensive agreement with the government of South Sudan concerning all remaining outstanding North-South issues, among them, the final definition and demarcation of the North-South border and the final status of the Abyei area;
- The lifting of all restrictions on movement and access for international humanitarian aid organizations operating throughout Sudan;
- The conclusion of a comprehensive ceasefire agreement with all militarily active components of the Sudan Revolutionary Front, or SRF, a coalition of rebel forces that is currently engaged in an armed struggle with the Sudanese government; and
- The conclusion of a comprehensive negotiation process with the SRF, other Sudanese opposition political parties, and civil society groups concerning governance and related issues in Sudan; this process should culminate in the completion of a fair, transparent, and all-inclusive constitutional review process followed by democratic elections.
In the meantime and until Khartoum clearly meets all identified conditions, states may deposit pledged donations into a basket fund or trust fund. However, the premature transfer of any such funds to the government of Sudan, prior to Khartoum’s clear demonstration of compliance with all identified conditions, risks the international community funding a government that continues to perpetrate massive human rights violations against its own people and threatens the peace and stability of the greater region.
Read the full policy brief: “The Case for Conditioning International Financial Support to Sudan”
A version of this post also appeared on RealClearWorld.
Photo: A family displaced by fighting Sudan's Blue Nile state lives under a tree (Enough / Nenad Marinkovic)