Sudan: Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper-Joint Staff Advisory Note

This interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP) was preparedfollowing the secession of South Sudan in July 2011. It was approved by the Councilof Ministers as well as by Parliament on 20 July 2012, respectively. The preparation ofthis I-PRSP was initiated before the secession of South Sudan. Since then, thegovernance structures for the new Sudan have remained the same, based on the 2005Interim National Constitution (INC) that underpinned the Comprehensive PeaceAgreement (CPA). Until the signature of the CPA, Sudan had experienced an alternationof civilian and military governments and two protracted North-South wars that took aheavy toll on human life and economic resources. The leadership in Sudan has initiallybeen preoccupied with the difficult negotiations of the economic and political relationswith South Sudan, but began in June 2012 to deal with the implications of the massiverevenue shocks caused by the loss of the share of the revenues from oil production inSouth Sudan. The Sudanese government's attention was also captured by internalconflicts and threats of new ones in several areas of the new country; the situation isbeing aggravated by the urgent resettlement and reintegration of millions of internallydisplaced persons (IDPs) from past conflicts in the territory and international refugeesfrom conflict-affected neighboring countries. In this complex environment, theauthorities are seeking to normalize Sudan's relations with the internationaldevelopment community, while opening up access to post-conflict recovery anddevelopment assistance, including relief from its onerous external burden.