You are in: Home > News and Releases > News Article Monday, February 06 2012

Netherlands: the 4th CPA anniversary in The Hague
Fri, February 20 2009
By SPLM Benelux Chapter/GoSS LO-Bxl [THE HAGUE - Netherlands]

THE HAGUE - On January 24, 2009 the Netherlands-based SPLM Benelux Chapter in coordination with the SPLM Chapter in Germany celebrated the 4th anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The event - with its colourful and delightful ambiance - featured a number of traditional dances (mainly from southern Sudan), musical performances by local artists, and speeches by both Dutch and Sudanese officials, as well as talks by civil society representatives from Darfur and the two chairpersons of the SPLM Chapters in The Netherlands and Germany.

Present at this occasion were the representatives of the Dutch Foreign Ministry, the Ambassador and representatives of the Sudan Embassy to the Netherlands, and the Principal Liaison Officer of the Government of Southern Sudan to Belgium and the EU; a Counsellor at the Sudan Embassy in Belgium, a representative of the Eritrean Embassy in the Netherlands, and the Chairperson of the SPLM Chapter in Norway also attended this celebration marking the 4th anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Signed in January 2005 between the National Congress Party-dominated government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement – or CPA as it is commonly known – was conceived to end the 22-year-old civil conflict in Sudan and lead to a process of equitable social, democratic and economic transformation of the entire country. The peace accord prescribes a schedule for a nation-wide population census, national elections and a plebiscite by which the people of southern Sudan and Abyei determine full autonomy or affiliation with the rest of the country.

Although there has been some progress in the implementation of the CPA, there remain many challenges facing the accord’s smooth implementation. The results of the population census are yet to be made public; there is concern that the national elections and the process of popular consultation for the people of Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile regions will fall behind schedule. The possible indictment of the Sudanese president by the International Criminal Court poses yet another uncertainty to the entire process of transforming Sudan into a peaceful, stable and democratic country.

Despite the challenges threatening the full and smooth implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, all speakers at the celebration remarked that this particular agreement is a roadmap to lasting peace in Sudan. This was the theme of the event held in the Dutch city of The Hague, seat of the ICC and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where proceedings on the Abyei Boundary Protocal are on-going.

 

 

[ Back to news ]