4 Strengthening Governance and Institutional Capacity

47. To achieve sustained growth, with employment creation and poverty

reduction, and avoid the gyrations of the past economic performance, the new
Sudan will put priority on building a strong, inclusive, transparent and effective
state and the institutional capacity to govern and deliver public services to the
population. Important elements of this good governance include effective public
financial management (PFM) and decentralization, peace and security, fighting
corruption, promoting human rights, and improving justice and law
enforcement. Further, there is empirical evidence that poor governance and
poverty as causes of civil wars. Although the separation of the North and South
Sudan has presumably reduced the risks of conflict in the sub-region, civil
conflict remains a reality, for example in Darfur. Thus, continuing vigilance and
an orientation to resolving existing and latent conflicts in a peaceful manner will
remain essential for peace and stability.

4.1 Peace, security and national unity

48. Peace, security and national unity are fundamental underpinnings of

sustained economic development and national prosperity. These, as well as
rapid economic growth and poverty reduction, are the main policy objectives of
the Government of Sudan. Sustained peace, security and national unity will
enable the Sudanese to put their energies on economic growth and poverty
reduction while general prosperity from rapid economic growth will buttress
peace, security and national unity. Given the history and legacy of conflict in
Sudan, targeted actions on sources of conflict are essential for fostering peace,
security and national unity as well as building the foundations for economic
growth and rapid poverty reduction. Peace and security in Sudan will also
bolster regional cooperation in economic and diplomatic fields, facilitating
conflict prevention in the region and strengthening the foundations for
accelerating economic progress.

49. Inclusive governance will be needed to sustain the peace and security. An
overarching element of inclusive governance is to have governance institutions
that emphasize participation, decentralization, transparency and accountability.
A commitment to address the sources and triggers of conflicts and the
mechanisms to resolve internal and sub-regional conflicts in a peaceful manner
will diffuse small conflicts and prevent them from growing into major violent
and armed confrontations. Improving the delivery of public services, opening up
opportunities to a wide range of people in the country, and organizing open and
participatory consultation on issues of national reconciliation will help to
mitigate the perceptions of unfairness and build trust and legitimacy of
governance institutions. Given that Sudan is continuing to operate on the
Interim National Constitution (INC), a framework that was specifically
designed to address the North/South issues. The preparation of a constitution for
North Sudan as a nation would provide the opportunity for strengthening the
basis for decentralized and inclusive governance.

50. Restructuring the security services to build to a new security forces for
building peace and security and conflict prevention rather than for war and
orient the security services to operating effectively in an open and participatory
political process. This restructuring may involve the demobilization and
reintegration of soldiers into productive civilian lives.

Conflict Resolution and National reconciliation

51. With a large and diverse population, conflicts are bound to arise from time
to time. It will be useful to develop the capacity for conflict resolution, which
can be called up to resolve disputes between different communities. The High
Council for Decentralization and the Constitutional Court.