Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Jan Petersen

Luncheon speech at Oslo Donors' Conference on Sudan 2005

Oslo, 11 April 2005

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Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

Welcome once again to Oslo. It is a great pleasure to join you for a well-deserved lunch-break in your busy program. However, I must warn you that even over lunch we will discuss our cooperation in Sudan.

Norway is proud to host this important event. We are very pleased to see such solid and broad participation. We are certain that your contributions will be generous. We know they will be crucial to the implementation of the Sudan peace agreement.

The Sudan Donors’ Conference marks the beginning of a new phase in the Sudan peace process. The last one ended with the signing of the Sudan Peace Agreement in Nairobi 9 January this year. It is with special warm feelings I welcome the two Sudanese leaders, Vice President Ali Osman Taha and SPLM Chairman, John Garang, and congratulate them with the peace agreement.

You have shown political leadership, found sustainable solutions to complicated issues, and even managed to become political partners in this process. You will need to continue to show national leadership and partnership to shoulder the hurdles that still face you.

Expectations are high both at home and in international community to the way you will handle the implementation of the peace agreement. The new National Government will have a prime responsibility. It must reach out to all Sudanese and be inclusive in its work. And its top priority must be to bring peace to Darfur and end the sufferings of the people there.

I know all of us have many questions about the implementation of the peace agreement. I have therefore taken the liberty to ask our friends from Sudan to share with us their thoughts about the next important stages of the implementation of the agreement. They will therefore take the floor towards the end our meal and outline their views.

I also want to pay special recognition to the regional organisation IGAD and in particular Kenya and General Lazarus Sumbeiywo for steadfast and wise leadership of the negotiations. The international community highly appreciate our special partnership with you. As co-chair of the Sudan Committee of IGAD Partners Forum Norway has been particularly pleased with the close cooperation with you. My colleague, Minister of International Development, Ms. Hilde Johnson, has had a special role in leading this partnership.

The Norwegian long-lasting engagement in Sudan, building on humanitarian assistance and academic cooperation since the 1960s, has been strengthened since we took an active part in the peace talks in 1998. We are particularly pleased with the results of the Joint Monitoring Commission in the Nuba Mountains. In cooperatin with the parties JMC has since spring 2002 successfully achieved to maintain peace and rebuild normalcy in a region as big as Austria with only 35 international observers working jointly with the parties. This mission serves as an excellent example for the future monitoring of the Sudan peace agreement.

Sudan will need long and steadfast support during the crucial stages of implementing the peace agreement. Today’s conference shows that Sudan is not alone. A broad, international coalition of countries from Europe, Asia, America, Middle East and Africa is behind Sudan and ready to pull in the same direction. Working together we can give strong support to the reconstruction of Sudan, to secure the welfare of its people and to safeguard its peace.

The tasks ahead are both numerous and daunting. We will need to support Sudan in all fields. In many parts of Sudan, particularly in the South, post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation in Sudan amounts to nothing less than re-building the society from scratch. Staggering amounts are needed. We can therefore not lean back because the peace agreement has been signed. Now, the hard work starts.

I am very pleased with the cooperation we have seen between the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, the AU and major international donors like the US, the EU, the UK, Japan, the Netherlands and others leading up to the peace agreement. Let us continue our cooperation as we move on.

The three resolutions recently passed by the UN Security Council provide mandates for international assistance to Sudan in all important areas, including security. The UN will have a leading role in these fields, but the whole world needs to be ready to contribute. I would therefore hope that we later during our lunch could benefit from the presence of the Secretary General’s Special Representative to Sudan, Mr. Jan Pronk, to provide us with at briefing on the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). I hope he will highlight in particular UN plans to monitor the cease-fire.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I end, let me propose a toast to the success of our meetings here in Oslo – and to peace in Sudan.

[Thank you].