Sudan - To support communities in East Darfur State, IOM, with support from the European Union, has rehabilitated Al-Sadaga Primary Girls’ School in the Abu Karinka locality and constructed and rehabilitated the Abu Matarig Cattle Market in the Bahr El Arab locality (bordering South Sudan).

These interventions seek to foster relationships among communities by improving access to education and facilitating cross-border trade and commerce to help revitalize economic activity and prevent conflict.

Attending the opening ceremonies on 12 and 13 April 2017 of the Abu Matarig Market and the Al Sadaga Primary Girls’ School were state and local authorities including the Humanitarian Aid Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and Project Community Improvement Committees as well as pastoral and sedentary community members.

The Director General of the State Ministry of Finance, (a national government counterpart of the project), Mohamed Ibrahim, said at the Abu Matarig Market opening ceremony, “This is the biggest market in Darfur, we should work on conserving and maintaining it. Through conserving the environment, we conserve our resources. So many traders from many tribes come here which is a proof of the social coexistence concept existing in this locality, and a main driver towards economic development.”

The construction and rehabilitation of the Abu Mararig Market includes new offices, police check points, latrines and fencing which were all built by IOM with the in-kind contribution from the State Ministry of Finance, particularly in extending the fences surrounding the market area.

In Abu Karinka, the students of Al Sadaga Primary Girls’ School planted trees in the school yard instilling ownership and giving an environmental conservation aspect to their school. A charter, quoting a local peace-promoting proverb, was also signed and hung on the school walls using local material, serving as an informal agreement that upholds the students, teachers and committees to social cohesion and peaceful coexistence.

These interventions are part of the Cross-Border Peace and Cooperation (CBPC) programme funded by the European Union. The project, valued at 2 million Euros and with a duration of 24 months, aims to contribute to Sudan’s development priorities by promoting a conducive environment for community stabilization and peaceful coexistence amongst communities in South and East Darfur States, in areas bordering South Sudan. Pastoralist and sedentary communities have long coexisted in these areas, in an interdependent relationship traditionally facilitated by trade and commerce.

For further information, please contact Dalia El Roubi, IOM Sudan, Tel. (Mobile): +249 9121 54652, Email: delroubi@iom.int