TOKYO: On Friday, July 30, Japan decided to provide through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) an emergency grant in the amount of approximately USD 8.17 million to assist the conduct of the referenda in Sudan scheduled to be held in January next year.

The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) brought the North-South civil war in Sudan to an end. The referenda of January 2011 will be held as part of the final phase of the implementation process of the Agreement and are thus events of tremendous importance. Japan, hoping that the referenda will be conducted in a fair and smooth manner, has decided to provide this grant assistance to contribute to that goal.

For the achievement of consolidation of peace in Sudan, it is imperative that the CPA be steadily implemented and that progress be made in the negotiations between the North and the South on post-CPA arrangements. Japan intends to continue to extend its active cooperation for the efforts for peace and stability in Sudan, including by encouraging further actions on the part of the parties of both the North and the South in that direction.

[Note] Japan's assistance for the referenda in Sudan is intended to provide: 1) voter registration materials, 2) voter education, 3) media training, 4) assistance for the protection and active participation of women, 5) strengthening of the Abyei police and 6) voting materials. It is based on Japan's recognition that funds for the procurement of materials are urgently needed, with only half a year left before the referenda, and that the level of capacity-building need is high in various areas such as voter education.