NRM in Southern Sudan Pact Sudan presented at

1
NRM in Southern Sudan (Pact Sudan)presented
at

• Pact Global Natural Resources Management Platform
• St. George Hotel, Pretoria, Republic of South
  Africa
• April 21st 25th, 2008

2
Pact Sudan Country Program

• Engaged in Sudan since Nov. 2002
• Diverse portfolio, focused broadly on
  peace-building
• To support the Sudanese aspirations for peace,
  stability and development through the successful
  implementation of the Comprehensive Peace
  Agreement
• 120 staff, 7 offices with HQ in Juba
• Funding Sources (approx 8 million/yr)
• USAID (DG, OTI, OFDA, CMM)
• Multi Donor Trust Fund (GoSS WB)
• UNDP
• Canadians (DFAIT CIDA)
• British (DFID)

3
Project Overview

• Water program
• Boreholes, haffirs, water catchments etc
• Technically assisting GoSS Ministry of Water
  Irrigation
• Peace building Conflict Mitigation program
• Grass-root conflict resolution peace-building
  activities
• Cross-border initiatives Sudan-Ethiopia
• Early warning mechanism
• Community security stability
• Local government capacity building activities
• Youth road work
• Formal government partners Southern Sudan Peace
  Commission (SSPC), and Southern Sudan
  Demobilization, Disarmament Reintegration
  Commission (SSDDRC)

4
Political Context

• Incipient regional government in South (GOSS)
  following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement
  (CPA) signed in 2005
• 6 year interim period including, North-South
  border demarcation, census, elections
  referendum (2011)
• Weak regulation / legislation / institutional
  environment
• Widespread possession of small arms by
  communities
• Weak/conflicting political institutions
• Total dependence of GoSS and the communities on
  oil for survival
• High expectations by both government
  public/communities

5
Social Context

• Highly fragmented, traumatized population
• High rate of returnees with diverse experiences
  of the war
• Reintegration of Returnees to places of origin
  not well supported
• Inter-communal Conflict ongoing in many areas
  fragility of CPA

6
Economic Context

• Oil rich (especially in border areas) erratic
  mineral deposits
• Land issues/rights becoming increasingly
  important contentious GoSS Interim
  Constitution stipulates that land belongs to the
  communities
• Huge emphasis in the CPA
• Nomadic pastoralists (limited organized farming)
• Lifeline largely dependent on Uganda, Kenya and
  the North
• Lack of long term investment

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Business Context

• Highly politicized environment
• Little engagement so far from INGOs in NRM
• China key player in the north-south relations
• Kenya Uganda taking advantage of short term
  opportunities
• High risk environment for investors because of
  local conflicts and poor physical infrastructure
  
• High short-term investment reward environment
• Influence from the North still dominant

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NRM in Southern Sudan

• Limited direct project experience in NRM, but
  becoming increasingly important, especially as
• GoSS institutions increase in capacity
  (legislation, regulation, NRM working group)
• Civil society is empowered
• INGOs move from humanitarian to recovery/develop
• Private sector competition increases
• Many links to peace building
• Worked with GoSS ministry of water resources and
  irrigation during the drafting water policy for
  Southern Sudan

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High Value NRin Southern Sudan

• Oil resources
• Displacement of dozens of villages (pre-CPA)
• Only source of revenue for GoSS
• Contracts signed before CPA not reversible
• Cause of border dispute between South North
• Most oil fields fall in Sudd wetlands i.e.
  threats to wetlands delicate biodiversity

10
High Value NR continued

• Minerals deposits
• Limited formal extraction but isolated illegal
  mining happening
• Contributes to local conflicts
• Viewed as low priority at the moment
• Border disputes between North South
  Kafia-kinji, Western BeG Southern Darfur

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Low Value NR in Southern Sudan

• Land
• Under utilized arable lands i.e. only subsistence
  farming
• Land pollution due to improper garbage disposal
• Rapid urbanization, population growth
• Communities feel robbed of land by growing
  investments
• Scarcity dissuasive to returnee process
• Source of conflict
• Between GOSS/GONU/State levels
• Between IDPs/Returnees and host communities
• Inter-communal (between ethnic groups) threats
  to South-South relations
• Dynamics of growing tensions between
  agriculturists and pastoralists

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Low Value NR Continued

• Forest Resources
• Weak enforcement of forest policies
• 100 dependence on forest for household fuel
  needs (charcoal, wood etc) construction
  activities
• Rampant illegal logging (teak, mahogany, ebony)
• No community-based forest initiatives

13
Low Value NR Continued

• Wildlife Resources
• Trans-boundary initiative between S. Sudan
  Uganda (Pact involved)
• Game forests reserves/National Parks exist
  between S. Sudan and DRC, Uganda, Central Africa
  Republic Ethiopia
• Large population of wild animals of high
  conservation value
• World Conservation Society (WCS) engaging

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Low Value NR Continued

• Water Resources
• Nile Basin Initiative viewed with political
  skepticism by SS (Egypt, North regional
  interest)
• Sudd wetlands declared a Ramsar Site in 2006
• Jonglei Canal highly politicized issue
• Lack of facility to monitor water quality
• Pollution mainly from small scale business
  activities along the Nile Oil exploration
• Abundant fish stock traditional fishing
  practice
• Split among three GoSS ministries coordination
  challenges

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Opportunity

• Timing high level of interest and growing
  awareness within government, civil society
  communities plus interest of intl community.
• Pacts comparative advantage building upon Pact
  Sudans past experience and knowledge on
  resource-based conflicts and network of local
  partners

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Challenges

• Weak policies promoting NRM
• Low technical capacity to manage natural
  resources
• Uncoordinated efforts between technocrats and
  policy/law makers
• Rare involvement of the communities in the
  process of decision-making
• NRM competing with other agendas

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Potential Threats to NRM

• Interests of Multi-national companies
• Irreversible oil concessions reached before the
  CPA - maximizing interim period
• Lack of environmental controls
• Interests of Northern Govt vs. GoSS
• Poverty driving communities to exploit
  environment
• Weak institutions governing NR

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Current Initiatives

• GoSS Natural Resources working group
• Pact Sudan internal NRM working group
• Pact Sudan internal NR mapping capacity (with
  possible support from Pact Madagascar)
• Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) involving countries
  in the basin
• WCS focus on wildlife

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• THANK YOU !
• Questions?