International community still needs to encourage the CPA signatories
The Sudan is at a critical juncture as the date for the referendum in Southern Sudan (9th January 2011) fast approaches. The full implementation of the CPA continues to be the basis for resolving any differences between the two parties, the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM). The parties have achieved a lot towards implementation of the CPA, though there are still a few, and crucial issues, to be ironed out. IGAD, of which Sudan is a member, was of course largely responsible for brokering the CPA, and it has been in constant touch with others, including the US, Norway and the UK as well as other African states which have a stake in the results. IGAD was expected to hold a Summit in Addis Ababa on 30th October to look into the progress made since the last summit decisions, but this meeting has now been postponed by one week.
The Summit will be a follow-up to what happened in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. It is intended to note the progress made by the parties since the March 2010 meeting of the IGAD Heads of State and Government in Nairobi. At that meeting, the Summit urged the Parties to the CPA to remain committed to the implementation of outstanding issues, in particular the completion of the North-South and Abyei border demarcations, the redeployment of forces and the integration of the Joint Integrated Units (JIUs), establishment of the Southern Sudan and Abyei Referenda Commissions and of popular consultations in South Kordofan and Blue Nile States. The Summit directed the IGAD Council of Ministers to liaise with the two parties to give technical support for border demarcation and establishment of the Referenda Commissions by May and for the two parties to develop a working formula that would ensure collaboration for the effective implementation of the CPA. The Summit welcomed the parties' commitment immediately to commence negotiations on Post Referendum Arrangements, and confirmed the continuing availability of IGAD to support the process. It further directed the IGAD Council of Ministers immediately to undertake shuttle diplomacy to nurture mutual trust and confidence building between the two parties and instructed the IGAD secretariat to open a liaison office in Juba to follow up implementation procedures.
It has been close to six years since the CPA was signed by the SPLM and the NCP in Kenya in 2005, and a lot has been achieved in the implementation of the decisions reached there. But progress has been balanced by continuing challenges. The setting up of the Referenda Commission for South Sudan, the completion of eighty percent of the boundary demarcation and the holding of popular consultations in the Blue Nile and Kordofan can be cited as some of the major achievements. On the other hand, the parties have yet to make progress on Abyei, on the remaining twenty percent of the border, and on a number of issues within the framework of the post referendum arrangements. The major concerns are the South Sudan Referendum, the Abyei Referendum and the North-South border. The IGAD Summit now planned for next week will consider the various issues on the table and encourage the two parties to redouble their efforts in the full implementation of the CPA and the resolution of any outstanding problems.
On Abyei, the parties conducted negotiations earlier this month in Addis Ababa under the auspices of the US Envoy to Sudan, General (retired) Scot Gration. The question of who should vote in the Abyei referendum and the rights of the Misseriya nomadic community which spends half of the year in Abyei, are issues that need to be resolved if the referendum is to be peaceful. The good will and understanding between the two parties is critical in this respect. The meeting made no breakthrough, though the parties agreed to meet again on 27th October. Unfortunately, however, this renewed meeting has now been postponed. Former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, the chair of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel on Sudan, announced on Monday, after discussions with President Al-Bashir and Vice President and South Sudan President, Salva Kiir, that the meeting to discuss both the Abyei referendum and post referendum issues was delayed indefinitely. The schedule for the meeting will now depend upon further consultative meetings taking place with the two parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
In the meantime the international community is following developments in the Sudan with keen interest. The mini-Summit, convened in New York in September, and the level of participation was a clear testimony to this. The communiqué issued at the end of that meeting clearly indicated the concerns of the international community. This week, the AU Committee on Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) for Sudan visited the country. The committee held extensive discussions with officials in Khartoum and Juba, and was briefed on the task of the leaderships over issues of post-conflict reconstruction, and on how the AU could be helpful. The Committee was briefed on developments, including the holding of the recent successful elections, the progress in wealth-sharing, and the activities of the Government of the Sudan in various regions including Blue Nile, Southern Kordofan, Abyei, White Nile, Upper Nile, and Greater Bahr el-Ghazal with the aim of improving infrastructural projects and linking the country together. The challenges faced by the government because of sanctions, and the lack of debt relief and the impact on goods and services were mentioned as was the problem created by the International Criminal Court with the issue of its arrest warrant against President Al-Bashir. All these factors threatened the full implementation of the CPA. In their discussions, the leadership of South Sudan emphasized the need to ensure a free, fair, transparent and peaceful referendum and for all parties to accept the outcome of the referendum whatever that might be. The leadership also stressed that Africa must be prepared to support the people of South Sudan in terms of reconstruction, the provision of public services, security, capacity building and skill development.
The AU’s PCRD Committee emphasized the need for the people of South Sudan to exercise their right freely. It expressed support to the Government of the Sudan in its efforts to conduct the referendum in a free and fair manner without any internal or external interference, and underlined the need to conduct the referendum peacefully. The Committee commended the continuous dialogue between the signatories of the CPA which has kept discussion alive in a sustained way. Development requires peace, and vice-versa, and the parties need to work to ensure peace and stability prevails. The AU’s PCRD committee was briefed by the South Sudan Referendum Commission, by the AU’s High-Level Implementation Committee and UNMIS. It decided to send a technical committee as soon as possible to assess South Sudan’s reconstruction needs.