UNEP’s programme in Sudan focuses on addressing the links between environmental pressures and conflict. Having completed a major environmental assessment of Sudan in June 2007, UNEP opened an office in Khartoum in December to carry out project activities in country.

Introduction

Sudan has suffered protracted armed conflict for most of the past 50 years, including a long civil war between the North and South and ongoing violence in Darfur. A Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 ended the North-South civil war and opened the prospect of a wider resolution of Sudan’s conflicts. However, conflict over scarce natural resources – fertile land, trees and water – remains a destabilizing influence in many parts of the country.

Many challenges remain to be addressed to ensure long-term peace, food security and sustainable development for the Sudanese people. These include desertification and regional climate change, increased vulnerability to natural disasters, the environmental impacts of population displacement and the return process, the devastating impact of land degradation on the population's livelihoods, deforestation, rapid urbanization and a rapidly growing oil sector.

UNEP’s Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch has established a Sudan programme to contribute to bringing peace and stability to Sudan by helping the international community, government institutions at all levels and civil society tackle the environmental challenges of Sudan.

 
Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment

UNEP substantially expanded its involvement in Sudan in 2006 by undertaking a comprehensive post-conflict environmental assessment – a major project involving ten fact-finding and field missions and over 2,000 interviews.

The Sudan Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment Report was released in June 2007 and includes assessments of water, agriculture, forests, desertification and natural disasters, wildlife, the marine environment, industrial pollution, the urban environment, environmental governance and the role of environmental pressures in Sudan’s conflicts. The report makes 85 recommendations and outlines a detailed government action plan with a total estimated national cost of $120 million over three to five years. The assessment and recommendations form the basis of UNEP’s continuing engagement in Sudan.

 
Environmental database

Data gathered in the field, satellite images, photographs and other sources used during the environmental assessment have been synthesized into a Sudan Environmental Database, which constitutes a valuable tool for government, civil society and the wider community interested in Sudan’s environment.

 
Sudan programme

Building on the post-conflict environmental assessment, UNEP has developed a pipeline of projects that form the core of the Sudan programme. In December 2007, UNEP opened its first Sudan office in Khartoum. Current projects include:

• Capacity-building for the environmental ministries in Khartoum and Juba;
• Environmental mainstreaming: assisting with the development of environmental management across Sudan and taking forward the recommendations of the PCEA;
• Darfur Timber and Energy: including a resource assessment, a reforestation programme and promoting alternatives to timber use for energy and construction;
• Darfur Integrated Water Resources Management: focusing on technical assessments of water resources, and on governance and sustainable management of groundwater; and
• Darfur Aid and Environment: engagement with the international community in Sudan to develop environmental and natural resource management as a critical component of conflict resolution, recovery and development.

Additional projects are currently under development.

A more complete description of the programme, partners and link to UN priorities is set out in the UNEP Sudan Strategy Paper and in the UNEP Sudan Programme Overview.

For further information on UNEP's Sudan programme please contact Robin Bovey,Programme Manager on: robin.bovey@unep.org