Background
On January 9, 2005, the signing of
the
Comprehensive
Peace Agreement (CPA),
in which the Resolution of the Abyei
Conflict as set forth in Chapter IV,
brought to an end two decades of war
and provided a new political map for
Sudan. The political road map enabled
the formation of a
Government
of National Unity (GONU);
Government
of Southern Sudan (GOSS) comprising
of the 10 states of Southern Sudan;
and the resumption of a multi-party
democracy that took into account gender
equality and cultural, racial, religious
and linguistic diversity within Sudan.
The
Protocol on the Resolution
of the conflict in the Abyei Area
signed by the two parties to the CPA
on the 26 May 2004, accorded Abyei
a special Administrative status. Administered
under the Presidency, the residents
of Abyei remain citizens of both Western
Kordofan in the North and Bahr el
Ghazal in the South with representatives
in both the legislatures of both states.
The resolution further provided for
the conduct of the Abyei Referendum
simultaneously with the referendum
for Southern Sudan on self –determination
in 2011.
In a separate ballot, a referendum
on the status of Abyei “
will
present the residents of Abyei with
the following choices, irrespective
of the results of Southern Sudan:
a) That Abyei retain its special
administrative position in the north
b) That Abyei be part of the Bahr
el Ghazal
irrespective of the results of the
Southern Sudan Referendum.
Abyei
Area Referendum Act, 2009
In 2008, the Presidency appointed
the Abyei Area Administration headed
by a Chief Administrator; a Deputy)
and five Heads of Department). A twenty
(20) person legislative council –with
representatives from both SPLM and
NCP was also appointed. This council
is to be replaced by a democratically
elected council by the residents of
Abyei at the end of the interim period.
Legislation for the Abyei Area Referendum
was adopted by the National Assembly
in late December 2009. It provides
a general framework for the Abyei
referendum and for the establishment
of the Abyei Area Referendum Commission.
The Commission will determine the
comprehensive and detailed rules and
procedures and conduct the Abyei Area
Referendum. As of late September,
2010, establishment of the Abyei Referendum
Commission is still pending; and the
institutional administrative units
at the County and Payam levels, which
are expected to render fundamental
support to the Abyei Area Referendum
Commission (AARC), are also yet to
be established.
In anticipation of the challenges
ahead the Abyei Area Administration
(AAA) requested the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) support
in the areas of civic and voter education,
policy and technical advice, media
and monitoring training, as well as
logistical and operational assistance
necessary for the referendum planning
and administration. The
Abyei
Area Referendum Project Initiation
Plan was thus developed, and
instrumental in securing funding support
from various international donors.
The
Abyei Area Referendum
Support project is now under
development to provide technical and
logistical assistance to the Referenda
authorities once they are established.
The Abyei area referendum
project:
The Support to the Abyei Area Referendum
Project will assist in the implementation
of the Abyei Area Referendum planned
for January 2011 for the residents
of the Abyei Area to exercise their
right to determine their future administrative
status. In particular, the project
will support the Abyei Area Referendum
Commission, Civil Society Organizations
and other institutions within the
frameworks stipulated in the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement, The Abyei Protocol
and Referendum Act.
Key activities will include support
to civic/voter education, public information
and domestic observation. The project
will also support media training and
monitoring and institutional building
support to the Abyei Area Referendum
Commission and other mandated organizations
through provision of logistics, policy
and technical guidance. Additionally
the project will render assistance
to other stakeholders in the referendum
process including the police, judiciary,
women and other special interest groups.
Expected
Outputs
The Overall aim of the project is
to ensure organization and implementation
of a transparent and credible referendum
with the coordinated support of the
international community. The
key
objectives that the project
aims to achieve are:
• Supporting the CPA process
in a manner to achieve the 2nd milestone
of conducting a free and transparent
referendum that will determine the
status of Abyei Area
• To strengthen civil society,
media, judiciary and police in performing
their oversight, security functions
as per the referendum law
These objectives
are to be achieved under the following
outputs:
•
Output 1: Support
for Voter Information, Voter Education
and Civic Education - Effective
voter education campaign aimed at
increasing the knowledge of voters
about the referendum process
•
Output 2: Support
to the Media - Trained media
personnel improve reporting quality
and media monitoring reports provide
information to Referendum Commission
•
Output 3: Support
to domestic and international observation
- Enhanced oversight role
of civil society in monitoring the
referendum process
•
Output 4: Institutional
building support to the Abyei Referendum
Commission - Strengthened
capacity of Referendum Commission
to plan for and implement the referendum
•
Output 5: Support
to Other Stakeholders - Strengthened
role of key stakeholders including
police, judiciary, lawyers, women,
youth and disabled in the referendum
process
•
Output 6: Project
Management Unit - Effective
project reporting and operations,
fiduciary control and accountability