KEY DEVELOPMENTS
· On September 27, the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (RSS) signed nine agreements regarding oil, trade, and security. Effective implementation of the agreements would demilitarize the Sudan-South Sudan border and resume oil production and trade, therefore helping improve food security, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Despite the guidance of the African Union (AU) High-Level Implementation Panel, the GoS and RSS were unable to resolve key issues concerning Abyei Area and other disputed border zones, and humanitarian access remains limited throughout conflict-affected areas.
· Clashes between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states-Sudan's Two Areas-have increased since early October, which is consistent with historical patterns of conflict, with highs and lows coinciding with dry and rainy seasons, respectively.
· In early August, the GoS and the SPLM-N signed separate memoranda of understanding (MoU) with the tripartite group-comprising AU, League of Arab States (LAS), and U.N. representatives. Prospects for achieving unfettered humanitarian access to conflict-affected populations in the Two Areas remain grim, particularly in light of the November 3 expiration of the MoU between the GoS and the tripartite group.
· Improved crop harvests, income from cash crop sales, and decreasing cereal prices are expected to improve access to food for conflict-affected populations in Darfur, Southern Kordofan, and Blue Nile through March 2013, according to the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). However, fighting could prolong food insecurity. Heavy rains and associated flooding since July have affected approximately 240,000 people countrywide and have likely damaged planted crops, potentially interfering with the November-to-December harvest.
· In FY 2012, the U.S. Government provided $297.3 million in humanitarian assistance to Sudan, including more than $80.5 million from USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) for agriculture and food security, health, nutrition, protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions, as well as humanitarian coordination and information management, logistics support, and the provision of relief commodities. USAID's Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) committed more than $182.6 million in FY 2012 for emergency food assistance, while the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (State/PRM) provided $34.2 million to support protection and multi-sector assistance to conflict-affected or otherwise vulnerable populations.