The government of the Netherlands has announced that it has halted direct cooperation with the South Sudanese government and cut millions of Euros that would have gone toward programmes assisting the government.
Explaining the move, Minister of Development Cooperation Lilliane Ploumen told the South Sudanese government that she was frustrated with the continuing violence and “apparent impunity.” She criticized the lack of progress towards restoration of peace in the country.
In a press statement, the Embassy of the Netherlands explained that the cuts would not affect donations to humanitarian organizations or civil society, but only to the government which it suggested was not doing enough to bring peace to the country and hold war criminals to account.
“The suspension of activities affects expenditure of 2.5 million euros out of an originally estimated expenditure in 2014 of 35.5 million euros, including 10 million in additional humanitarian aid already allocated earlier this year,” the embassy clarified.
The Dutch Cooperation Minister met with the South Sudanese Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Eliah Lomuro to make clear her government’s position.
“Resumption of our direct cooperation efforts will depend on clear and concrete progress towards finding a peaceful end to the conflict,” she told the South Sudanese minister, according to the embassy statement.
Speaking to South Sudanese press in Juba after the meeting she also stated, “Stopping our cooperation with the central government does not mean that we are not going to be caring about the people of South Sudan – we will resume working with the central government if peace has been established.”
The funding cuts affect programmes in the area of security sector reform and capacity-building of the police and other civil servants. “We had cooperation in different sectors including training South Sudanese diplomats and building capacity of the police, and those are the programs we have to stop,” said the minister.
Since December, a number of other European nations and the United States have also suspended or slashed direct aid to South Sudan’s government, though not all of these countries have announced it publicly.
Ploumen’s remarks come after a four-day visit during which she inspected economic development projects in Yei and conditions of UN-protected displaced people in Malakal.
Barnaba Marial, South Sudan’s Foreign Minister, responded yesterday to remarks by his Dutch counterpart, saying the Netherlands should put pressure on the rebels but not on his government which he said was fully committed to the peace talks.
Marial pointed out that his president signed the IGAD-drafted Protocol on transitional arrangements, whereas the rebel SPLM-IO did not sign it.
“I think if there is anything the Netherlands should do it is to put more pressure on the rebels so that they can come back to the table and so that we achieve peace within 45 days. We cannot be accused that we are not committed to peace I think there is no fairness in that and it is unjust,” Marial said.
He also stated out that the South Sudanese government has not yet received any official letter from the Netherlands government on the matter.
File photo: Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilliane Ploumen (RNW)