(Earth Times / dpa) Nairobi/Khartoum - The non-governmental organization Global Witness on Friday said transparency in reporting oil revenues between northern and southern Sudan was needed to prevent a new conflict between the sides. Some 2,500 people were killed in southern Sudan over the course of 2009, and that another 350,000 were left homeless.
In a report published on the fifth anniversary of the peace accord between North and South Sudan, Global Witness researcher Rosie Sharpe said a fair distribution of oil income was needed to prevent a new conflict.
Sharpe, who had written a report several months ago on irregularities in the distribution of oil revenue, said that "transparency - of which a first step is conducting an audit - will be needed for both sides to trust the agreement."
According to the peace agreement, the autonomous government of South Sudan is to receive 50 per cent of the income from the oil produced in southern facilities from the central government in Khartoum. These funds make up 98 per cent of the South Sudan's budget.
In 2009, Global Witness produced a study citing discrepancies in oil production and income figures between those given by Khartoum and those of the Chinese oil firms doing the drilling.
"Any peace agreement that specifies how revenues from natural resources should be shared must enable both sides to verify that the sharing is carried out fairly. Currently this is not the case in Sudan and this lack of transparency is fueling mistrust between the two sides," Sharpe said.
In the coming year, the population of South Sudan will vote on full independence. Should the south secede from Sudan, it will take with it 80 per cent of the country's oil.
A report earlier this week from 10 NGOs warned that Sudan's first multi-party elections in 24 years and a referendum in which southern Sudanese citizens would vote on whether to secede from the north could "inflame violence if not properly prepared for."
Less than half of southern Sudanese had access to clean water, illiteracy rates top 80 per cent, and the entire region, which is roughly the size of France, had fewer than 50 kilometers of paved roads, the groups said.
Some 2 million people died over the course of Sudan's decades-long civil war and roughly 4 million were left homeless.
In a report published on the fifth anniversary of the peace accord between North and South Sudan, Global Witness researcher Rosie Sharpe said a fair distribution of oil income was needed to prevent a new conflict.
Sharpe, who had written a report several months ago on irregularities in the distribution of oil revenue, said that "transparency - of which a first step is conducting an audit - will be needed for both sides to trust the agreement."
According to the peace agreement, the autonomous government of South Sudan is to receive 50 per cent of the income from the oil produced in southern facilities from the central government in Khartoum. These funds make up 98 per cent of the South Sudan's budget.
In 2009, Global Witness produced a study citing discrepancies in oil production and income figures between those given by Khartoum and those of the Chinese oil firms doing the drilling.
"Any peace agreement that specifies how revenues from natural resources should be shared must enable both sides to verify that the sharing is carried out fairly. Currently this is not the case in Sudan and this lack of transparency is fueling mistrust between the two sides," Sharpe said.
In the coming year, the population of South Sudan will vote on full independence. Should the south secede from Sudan, it will take with it 80 per cent of the country's oil.
A report earlier this week from 10 NGOs warned that Sudan's first multi-party elections in 24 years and a referendum in which southern Sudanese citizens would vote on whether to secede from the north could "inflame violence if not properly prepared for."
Less than half of southern Sudanese had access to clean water, illiteracy rates top 80 per cent, and the entire region, which is roughly the size of France, had fewer than 50 kilometers of paved roads, the groups said.
Some 2 million people died over the course of Sudan's decades-long civil war and roughly 4 million were left homeless.
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