Donor countries and international agencies promised to continue to provide aid to Sudan to help the nation implement a three-year old peace deal and recover from civil war at a donors' conference concluded on Wednesday in Oslo of Norway, according to reports reaching here.
Donor countries and international agencies pledged a total of 4.8 billion U.S. dollars in aid to Sudan for the period 2008-2011, Hartwig Schafer, director of strategy at the World Bank, said at the conclusion of the two-day conference.
"I'm very happy. The reconfirmation of the donor countries' commitments to Sudan shows that this was very successful," he said.
UN special envoy for Sudan, Ashraf Qazi, said the pledges "exceeded" what had been expected.
At the first donors' meeting held in Oslo in 2005 donor countries and international agencies pledged 4.5 billion U.S. dollars in aid to Sudan over four years.
Norway's Environment and International Development Minister Erik Solheim was also satisfied with the result of the conference. He said he was encouraged by the "mood" at the conference.
The Sudan Consortium, as the donors group is called, is chaired by the Sudan Government of National Unity, the Government of Southern Sudan and the Norwegian organizers, the World Bank and the United Nations. It has met annually since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 2005.
Source:Xinhua
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