Register Online: ISS Seminar: The Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement and the Challenges of Implementation

Date: 2007-12-11 to Invalid date

Register Online: ISS Seminar: The Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement and the Challenges of Implementation
Pretoria, 11 December 2007

Presenter: Ms Samia Abdallah Ali, Dean of the Faculty of Community Development, University of Gedaref

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the National Congress Party and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in January 2005 was meant to have laid the foundation for an overall transformation of the country towards inclusive national politics. However, as developments Darfur and Eastern Sudan have shown, there is disagreement about whether the interests of other “Northern” entities are truly represented in the Government of National Unity, as opposition parties in those areas argues that they have seen few benefits since 2005.

The Eastern rebel groups, like their Darfurian counterparts, perceive the slow implementation of the CPA as a sign of a lack of commitment to overall transformation on the part of the Government. It is within this context that the activities of the rebel movements in Eastern Sudan intensified their activities, a turning point being the January 2006 protests in Port Sudan by port workers and members of the “Eastern Front”. In October 2006 the newly formed Eastern Front signed the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement (ESPA) with the Government of Sudan, consisting of protocols on power, wealth sharing and security arrangements, bringing the number of agreements signed in Sudan to three in just two years.

This seminar is based on a situation report co-authored by Ms Abdallah that aims to outline some of the civil society sentiments towards the ESPA paying particular attention to Gedaref State. It highlights the challenges facing the ESPA’s implementation and issues pertaining to the demography of Gedaref and the political affiliation of Gedaref civil society. It also contextualises the ESPA within the broader CPA and Darfur peace processes and examines how these impact on the power sharing arrangements as set out in the ESPA.

Presented by the African Security Analysis Programme

Venue: ISS Conference Room, Block C, Brooklyn Court, 361 Veale Street, New Muckleneuk
(Parking in Brooklyn Mall and ABSA court)

Time: 09h30 (tea and coffee)
10h00 (seminar starts)
12h00 (seminar ends)

RSVP: Harunise Afrikander, tel: )912) 346 9500; fax: (012) 460 0997; E-mail: [email protected]

Please note that discussions occur under Chatham House rules, i.e. no attribution without specific permission